MEDO Magazine Last Quarter

The Innovation Edition

Satellite launch in 3..2..1!

Reaching for the stars with the help of these bright young minds

Contents MEDO Magazine 2015

Cover Stories P12

Why buy a satellite?!

P28

Taking on the USA: Young Women in STEM

P38

Space Prep: Stage 1 of our Space Programme

Features P18

Supplier Development: Bridging the Gap

P26

Treppie takes on Port Elizabeth, again!

P32

Meet our Foundation Business Skills Entrepreneurs

P42

Councillor Garreth Bloor: Behind the Politics

P64

MEDO five-minute workshop: Opportunities

P80

PR: MEDO AVE report

We started a Space Programme: meet our young physicists | P34

Editorials P16

Judi Sandrock: Let’s talk Supplier Development

P24

Keith Matthews: Exponential Innovation

P30

Bjarke Gotfredsen: Our Space Partners

Publisher: MEDO

Read about our exciting Third Thursday Discussions | P40

Editor: Carla de Klerk Photographer: Karl Schoemaker, Work at Play Photography & Design Contributors: Bjarke Gotfredsen, Judi Sandrock, Keith Matthews, Azola Qhina, Nolu Tutani Printer: Burlington Dataprint (PTY) Ltd. Tel: +27 11 493 7200 www.medo.co.za @MEDOnews MEDOcentre MEDOcentre Tel: +27 010 500 5000 Azola Qhina shares her Treppie experience | P22

P. O. Box 2331 Houghton, 2041 South Africa Copyright 2015

MEDO 3

FROM THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL

What is Innovation in Diversity?

From the Editor Carla de Klerk

I often find it incredibly difficult to explain to friends and family exactly what it is that MEDO does. Not because I don’t know of everything that happens around here, but because there is just so much that happens here. We train entrepreneurs, corporates, schoolkids and communities. We have training facilities, we have two mobile offices and then we also have a satellite. I mean how many companies do you know that own satellites? In the office we have a saying not to be afraid of imitators. If someone copies your work it means that you need to constantly innovate to stay ahead. In short, that’s exactly what goes on around here, we find innovation in diversity, innovation in every project that comes past and that is what this edition aims to show, a peephole as to what really goes on backstage here at MEDO. For a passionate piece on innovation, go to p 26 to meet our new CEO, Keith Matthews. Be sure not to miss editorials from our co-founders and CEOs Judi Sandrock p16 and Bjarke Gotfredsen p 30 either.

Recently, we also launched a space programme, equipping young women with

skills in STEM, read all about it on p 12.

With our exciting partenerships we have also teamed up with the City of Cape Town and Concillor Garreth Bloor hosting discussion platforms once a month p 40.

Our partnership with ISUZU Trucks is also ever-growing, meet Sipho Sandla, innovator extraordinaire on p 54. Be sure not to miss the ISUZU Treppie tour on p 26 either!

After yet another successful Supplier Development Programme, read about the nerves of Big Pitch on p 66. You can also meet our first batch of Cape Town entrepreneurs who completed the Foundation Business Skills Programme. See some great and inspiring start-ups from p 32.

I believe innovation comes through exposing yourself to as much as you can, and I must say working here at MEDO no day is ever the same as there are constantly projects in the pipeline. Read through this magazine and learn not only about MEDO but all the amazing opportunities out there in terms of development. Why search for innovation and inspiration in big things when who knows, it might be right here between your fingertips...

!

Till

me i t t nex

MEDO specialises in Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) to satisfy the requirements of South African companies’ compliance with the DTI B-BBEE codes of best practice. All ESD programmes are customised for the industry and sponsoring client.

The team has extensive experience in the mining, oil energy and gas, infrastructure, manufacturing, technology and tourism.

Delivery mechanisms range from a socio-economic development programme with a mobile entrepreneurship centre that tours townships and rural areas, enterprise and supplier development programmes to international trade programmes for small enterprises.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

The Meta Economic Development Organisation

MEDO is a group of businesses under the banner of MEDO Holdings (Pty) Ltd that delivers economic development projects and programmes.

SocioEconomic Development Organisation (NPC)

Meta Enterprise Development Organisation (Pty) Ltd

MEDO Club incubation and shared services The SEDO team runs a Mobile Entrepreneurship Incubator called “Treppie” that tours rural areas and disadvantaged communities bringing entrepreneurship as an alternative to endless job-seeking. It is a non- profit company and public benefit organisation. The SEDO team delivers SocioEconomic Development and often the beneficiaries enter the more advanced MEDO programmes.

MEDO delivers Enterprise and Supplier Development Programmes, runs Incubators, develops suppliers for large industry and host international trade visits. This business is the core of the MEDO group, with hundreds of beneficiaries across South Africa who have been through programmes, benefit from virtual incubation and listed on the MEDO Supplier Database.

All the MEDO programmes deliver B-BBEE points for socio-economic development and enterprise and supplier development.

What do we do?

We assist entrepreneurs to build and grow their businesses. We ask people to answer three questions: -Are you an entrepreneur?

-Do you want to start a business?

-Do you want to grow your business?

-We have the solutions to help people reach their goals.

We deliver this through: -Touring with Treppie running Opportunity Identification -workshops -Introduction to Business Workshops -Foundation Business Skills Programmes -Supplier Development Programmes 6

-National Trade Programmes -International Trade Programmes -Incubation of micro and small businesses -Quality of Delivery Businesses need access to markets in order to grow and provide sustainable employment. In MEDO, we are dedicated to ensuring perfect quality of the businesses we introduce as suppliers. We ensure this high quality through: Screening of entrepreneurs and their businesses – MEDO uses a stringent interview and screening process improved over the years, accredited, and shown to produce excellent results. We screen out those who have a sense of entitlement.

Supply chain analysis – we engage supply chain professionals to analyse the supply chains of our corporate clients to identify supplier development opportunities.

We will never recommend a disruption to your core value chain or compromise your quality of delivery. Effective skills transfer – all our programmes are customised for the client and industry, and delivered by seasoned entrepreneurs in the field. It’s all business with a results focus.

Governance – we ensure that every enterprise on our programme is registered correctly, is governed correctly and that all the documentation is in place and verified.

There will be no surprises at accreditation time.

Media exposure – all our programmes attract the media as the entrepreneurs have inspiring stories to tell.

Transformation becomes a brand value for our clients.

Footprint - MEDO can deliver in all provinces across South Africa, and has international trade programmes designed for countries where you operate.

CITY SMALL BUSINESS SERVICES SUPPORT:

BOOST BUSINESS GROWTH AND START-UPS IN CAPE TOWN Cape Town is a business-friendly destination that prioritises an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and business growth.

While different services exist within the City of Cape Town, there are also support organisations that provide services to people who are either doing business or wanting to start a business in the city.

The City’s Small Business Support office, established to promote entrepreneurship and business-driven job placements, helps business people find the most appropriate support organisation and/or programme from a network of over 90 business development organisations (including financiers) in Cape Town. The value of this service is that it prevents entrepreneurs from wasting energy, money and time approaching the wrong support organisations and service providers or paying for services that are sometimes freely available or partly subsidised.

Service offering We provide the following services: • • • •

Information and advice about City procedures and business assistance programmes Connecting businesses to the right City officials and resources.

Assistance with resolving bottlenecks caused by a lack of knowledge of City processes, business-related issues and regulatory compliance Access to financial guidance in order to find the most suitable source of funding.

For assistance contact the Economic Development Department’s Small Business Support office on: 021 417 4043 or e-mail business.support@capetown.gov.za.

For all Economic Policy enquiries please contact: Councillor Garreth Bloor, Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development on 021 400 1375 or Garreth.Bloor@capetown.gov.za.

Public Relations Exhibition and Event PR Media Planning Promotions Promotional Items

Tel: +27 (11) 467 9233/8998 Fax: 0866 105 124 sarah@thelime.co.za www.thelimeenvelope.co.za PO Box 2835, Northriding, 2162

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

Media corner What the leading South African media thinks of MEDO:

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Those who pitched are beneficiaries of MEDO’s Foundation Business Skills Programme. Entrepreneurs are empowered with the neccessary skills and know-how on a variety of business issues. The aim is to become more proffessional, to attract clients and to grow.

-The Sowetan, 2014

“

On June 16, a couple of high school girls from Cape Town took part in a robotics hackathon in a bold move to create Africa’s first Satellite. While it is believed that only scientists and specifically males can invent this life changing product, such stories display that it is not gender based because we are not only women, but we are women with a mission.

-NUnovation, 2015

The fourth International Trade Programme to the United Kingdom has seen the triumphant return of 13 local entrepreneurs, most with new business and all with new ideas and contacts.

-Finance24, 2014

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“

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The programme allows entrepreneurs from around the country attempt to learn how to take their businesses to the next level. The programme, which is of no cost to the entrepreneurs, begins with a rigorous screening and interview process to find people to take part in the boot camp.

-City Buzz, 2015

All over the world, the perception that maths and science are predominantly of interest to boys rather than girls is being challenged. This Youth Day saw a group of schoolgirls gathered in Cape Town, building their own robots. It’s the first step in a programme that will eventually see young women build the technology for Africa’s first private satellite. Try telling the young women at MEDO’s robot workshop that science is for boys, though, and they look at you as if you’re mad.

-The Daily Maverick, 2015

“

The Medo programme has been designed to inspire young women to consider science, technology, engineering, and maths as a career. These careers represent eight of the top 10 occupations in demand in the country.

-SABC News, 2015

“

Girls in communities across Cape Town are learning skills like soldering, as the Meta Enterprise Development Organisation (MEDO) rolls out a programme to encourage women to take up jobs in maths, science and engineering. Girls can reach for the stars, too.

-NEWS24, 2015 9

sustainable remuneration in a changing world

EMPLOYEE VALUE

Remuneration, HR and Reward how do they all fit together?

Performance & Recognition Reward Total Package & Salaries

We treat your organisation as an holistic entity.

Our full-spectrum service encompasses all the aspects of Reward & Remuneration that are vital to the health and longevity of any organisation.

1

Variable Pay Strategy & Policy

UNDERSTAND the jobs

Job Profiles

Job Profiles and Job Evaluation are at the ROOT of ALL the HR & Remuneration structures and processes in your organisation

2

Our emphasis is on sustainable remuneration, skills development and corporate social investment. We focus on your organisation's strategy at all times, assisting you to achieve your business objectives, drive your company's performance, engage and retain your staff and comply with legislation.

2 We are reputable and highly experienced one of the largest full-spectrum specialist Remuneration and Reward consultancies in Africa, with national and international capability. We have more than 60 skilled employees, and service over 1700 clients, including Government, Parastatals and two thirds of the companies on the JSE.

3 We follow a strict code of professionalism.

Our consultants are technically skilled, qualified, well-trained and experienced. Our services are grounded in technical knowledge which is well recorded and substantiated.

Job Evaluation

copyright 21st Century

things that distinguish us in the reward arena 1

SIZE the jobs

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5

We are client-focused - paying close attention to each client’s perceived needs, sensitivities and special requirements whilst adhering to the Institute of Management Consultants’ Code of Conduct.

We service a comprehensive geographical area.

This includes Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Central and East Africa regions and South-East Asia.

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PROPOSITION (EVP)

Drive STRATEGY

Work/life balance Business results

Leadership & Culture

Engagement Retention Development & Career opportunities Organisational Design

We believe in transparency, sharing with the client any unexpected findings, facts or opinions which may be revealed in the course of an assignment.

5

4

COLLECT, COLLATE & COMPARE job information

6

Enjoy the results of a culture of PERFORMANCE

BUILD HR & REMUNERATION structures & processes

Pay Scales

3

6

ORDER & ORGANISE the jobs

Surveys & Benchmarking

7 We use a range of innovative electronic and web-based products to support our consulting services.

8 Our solutions are pragmatic, usable and easy to administer once the consultant has completed the project.

We can assist you with all the key compliance factors - to ensure that you comply 100% with the legislation

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10

We provide best of breed practices.

We deliver outstanding value for money.

+27 11 447 0306 +27 11 788 1832 info@21century.co.za www.21century.co.za www.rewardonline.co.za PO Box 973, Saxonwold, 2132, Johannesburg, South Africa

(Please see our website for regional contact details)

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

Why buy a satellite?!

All your questions answered

By Judi Sandrock, MEDO co-founder and CEO

MEDO has bought the first privately owned satellite in Africa. As predominantly an economic development agency working with entrepreneurs and BBBEE codes, what would the benefits of such a pricey investment be? What does this have to do with young women in STEM? How will a satellite engage these young women in Maths and Science? MEDO CEO Judi Sandrock answers these questions:

Image: For stage 1 of the Space Programme, the participants learnt how to build a jiggybot robot with basic electro-mechanic principles.

technical skills and this can refer to either employer or employee.

Why are you doing this?

So the problem we are facing on the one hand, is the need to “Why have we bought Africa’s first privately owned satellite, manufacture more, but then again we don’t have the people to apart from what I believe to be very cool? Well, what we do, is track those dots as we don’t have the small business owners development. We are MEDO, the Meta Economic Development who have the technical ability to build those manufacturing Organisation. Whether we do socio-economic development plants to start those manufacturing businesses. So that is or international trade programmes, we aim to empower small exactly what we are doing here with businesses through knowledge MEDO, it’s about what we are doing premanagement. So if we do economic It is predicted that 80% of all future matric so that in five years’ time we’ve development, why are we bothering with STEM (Science, Technology, jobs are STEM related, with almost got people who are starting businesses and being employed by these businesses Engineering and Maths)? Well, what we double the pay of non-STEM related that have been started. have found is that when people need assistance in building their businesses, careers. So what we are trying to do How are you doing this? they need it most early on. It sounds is to give these young women the “We work closely with our partner very simple, but the most difficult of this project, ISUZU Trucks who thing for an entrepreneur to figure out, best chance out there. are extremely passionate about the is what they are selling, to who and programme. It started around the issue that they are struggling for how much. Until that is answered, you don’t really have a to find Maths and Science interns who further may become business, you are merely making ends meet by grasping at technicians they want to hire. To add to that, they are looking straws. What we have found through research, as well as our for bursary students, but our Science and Maths pool is just not own programmes including our start-up focused programme on big enough. ISUZU Trucks are busy expanding their operation, foundation business skills, is that we need to start assistance selling more trucks to the continent. Now to grow, you need a lot earlier than the start-up phase. We need to start earlier more manpower, which is why ISUZU Trucks is so invested in because we find a lot of businesses just don’t have the right

“

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Image: Maymoonah Stegmann and Imaan Shaik successfully lighting their circuit board for their jiggybot robot.

Enterprise and Supplier Development. If you look at ISUZU, a Japanese company, it is key to look at the Japanese mentality of working 20 years in advance. So what’s happening is that the team from ISUZU Trucks are looking at what we are doing now with people who are grade 10, so that we’ve got great engineers in 10 years time who can become market leaders. Nowadays it’s not someone with a spanner who’s putting together a truck, it’s robots, with people who monitor and programme it. We need to go up the value chain, and that is why we are focusing on Women in STEM, and why we are focusing on people who haven’t entered the workplace yet.

A STEM problem?

“At MEDO we don’t like looking into something as a problem, but rather in terms of solutions. But the thing is, South Africa does have a challenge because only 7.6% of pupils passed Maths with more than 60% and only 5.5% passed Science with more than 60%. This means that unless you are in those very low percentiles, you can’t get into a technikon of university. We can’t blame the government, the education system or teachers, what we need to do is actually find a solution, and this is a private sector solution. What the programme and the satellite is all about, is to inspire so that we have more people doing well in Science and Maths at school not only to become engineers, but

teachers and a whole array of other professions. It is predicted that 80% of all future jobs are STEM related, with almost double the pay of non-STEM related careers. So what we are trying to do is to give these young women the best chance out there.

So you are doing all of this with the Satellite?

“We need to emphasise that this is a long-term project, this one satellite is most definitely not just another flash in the pan. If you look at the programme, we have three stages, Space Prep is the first of those which is all about electronics and learning to put electronics together by building small jiggybot robots. Stage one is to get the interest going and we will host these workshops at least once a month. The next step is Space Trek, a week-long bootcamp where we will take a group of young women to the bush to start designing and testing the payload for the satellite.

We will test this by launching high-altitude weather balloons that go 30km up in the air. Finally then, we will come together with the young women who are still interested to build the final payload for the satellite to be ready for launch in 2016. We have plans of launching one satellite per year until 2019 so after next year’s satellite has fulfilled its function and has burnt out, we are not going to disappear into the sideline with this issue.

Go to page 28 to read about our American space partners.

Go to page 34 to meet some of our Space trekkers.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

We have a brand-new Treppie on the town!

Treppie, MEDO’s Socio-Economic Incubation Programme sponsored by ISUZU Trucks, has added a brand-new truck to the fleet that will allow for greater opportunity for economic development in hard-to-reach areas of the country.

As of March 2015, MEDO has been travelling around South Africa in a brand new Treppie, with a FSR800 ISUZU truck sponsored by ISUZU Trucks.

Besides the brand new truck, Treppie is also kitted out with a brand new interior that can be moved around for MEDO’s various programmes.

“Having had over four years experience with the old truck, we have come to learn what works and what the unique requirements are of the truck,” Bjarke Gotfredsen, MEDO CEO explains. “We are powering all technology with Solar Cells and an Inverter, which makes us energy independent meaning we can set up shop anywhere regardless of facilities or infrastructure. We are also using state of the art technology to ensure the fastest internet speeds possible,” Bjarke explains the new upgrades. Apart from reaching entrepreneurs, the truck will also be used to facilitate a series of Space Prep workshops at local high schools.

MEDO Treppie manager Azola Qhina describes her aspirations for the truck, “We are hoping to find a truckful of enterprising young women at the high school workshops, and the fact that we will be travelling throughout South Africa, we will have the greatest ever opportunity to do so.” Treppie will be in action this year three weeks per month, and will therefore hold nothing back when moving into communities. “I foresee that we will help a lot of people not only better their technology skills but effectively empower them to find opportunities around them after our various workshops,” Azola adds.

MEDO CEO Judi Sandrock sheds light on the entrepreneurial tours, “We are delighted to bring the new ISUZU Treppie to communities in what we believe presents a great opportunity for us to assist in the development of emerging enterprises – a vital sector spearheading economic growth in our country. In doing this we have also created a unique opportunity for large organisations to involve themselves with these businesses and in doing so to advance their Enterprise Development and Supplier Development strategies.”

The Treppie team will consist of four permanent members who will take on life on the road with great zeal. “I cannot wait to take on the road,” Azola explains, “we have an amazing strategy and we are all looking forward to the incredible individuals we are about to meet on the next series of tours.”

Go to page 24 to read about Treppie’s tour to Port Elizabeth.

Go to page 38 to read about MEDO’s Space Prep Programme.

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Images: Right: Young women working hard at a Space Prep workshop inside Treppie.

Below: The brand-new Treppie.

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tsogosun.com

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

EDITORIAL

EXPERT OPINION

Let’s Talk: Supplier Development

As the term “supplier development” is on so many companies’ lips with regards to the changing of the BBBEE codes, MEDO CEO Judi Sandrock tackles the topic of what makes Supplier Development so different.

All the entrepreneurs we come across want to sell to big business because they think that’s where the “Big Bucks” are. This cannot be further from the truth as the road to bankruptcy is paved with promises of high volume contracts and discounted prices.

This is why we prep both buyers and sellers for the era of Supplier Development.

Decisions Decisions Decisions. All the MEDO entrepreneurs know how to pitch their offering to the right person to get a “yes”. When selling to an individual or a small business, it is the same person who decides what they want, who they deliver to, and who pays the bill at the end of the day. And they usually pay straight away.

When selling to a large business, one team decides on the specifications, another one goes out on enquiry and often a third committee makes the decision. Small businesses need to deliver before they invoice, and may not be paid for 90 days.

The decision-making process can take many months too, and a small business can go out of business waiting to enter this Big League.

The question to ask is “apart from you, who else will be involved in the decision?”

Entrepreneurs are eternal optimists and too often believe that the person engaging them is the final decision maker, only to learn that they need to take it to their superiors, or that it will only be budgeted for next year. In a large organisation entrepreneurs need to map out the role players, and find our who can say “yes” and who can say “no”.

Money Money Money. Over the last number of decades, buyers in big business have been encouraged to negotiate the lowest price and to delay payments as long as possible. We encourage our clients to consider not the lowest price, but the best price for both parties - the price at which the client gets great value for money and the supplier can make a profit to feed sustainability. Invoice financing costs a small business up to 3% per month which 16

they need to build into their pricing when selling to companies renowned for delaying payments. In South Africa we have BBBEE incentives to pay early, so we encourage our clients to pay as soon as their systems allow. “Time is Money” has now become “Time scores Points”.

Entrepreneurs need to be acutely aware of all their input costs as well as the cost of the time they may have to wait. Discounting to get the deal is not good for anyone.

Be careful what you wish for. There are very successful businesses that have clearly decided not to sell to large industry, and rather to focus on selling to individuals and small businesses. Pam Golding is an example, an entrepreneur who has built a globally competitive real estate agency still selling to individuals after decades of growth. Entrepreneurs need to understand their businesses and markets, where they want to play as well as where they don’t want to play. Focus on the target.

It’s not all about me. When we invite entrepreneurs onto the MEDO Supplier Development Programme, we make sure that they know that we will take them away for a week on a “Bootcamp”. We need to test if the business is strong enough to cope without the entrepreneur for a week, because if it is not, it is probably not strong enough to supply to big business.

We come across many entrepreneurs who cannot let go believing that nothing can happen without them around. This means that they can never take a holiday, or heaven forbid, that they or their loved ones cannot get sick or be cared for. If you want to build a business that can provide an income when you are around, you have to let it grow beyond just “me”. One of the reasons we build businesses is to create wealth and value, and if the business is nothing without the founder, its not worth anything to the marketplace.

In the early days of MEDO, I was

often asked by our clients if there were others in the team who could deliver, and I understand this as too often a small business gives the impression that it cannot scale to become a large one. We had to be ready to prove that it was not just the Bjarke and Judi Show. Entrepreneurs need to develop those in their teams and to introduce then to clients, so that they don’t look like the One Man Band.

Supplier Development is not new.

The Japanese have been developing their suppliers for decades, and methodologies like Just in Time supported Japanese manufacturers to become world leaders.

Supplier relationships can be as important as customer relationships, as in a big business we want to know that we can rely on our suppliers and that they’ll be around tomorrow, and the next day.

Small businesses cannot keep large inventories of input materials and need suppliers’ deliveries to be synchronised with demands. Sustainable suppliers need multiple year contracts so that they can hire great people, and finance equipment and technology.

The MEDO Supplier Development Programme attracts applicants from across South Africa, and the team takes the candidates through a rigorous screening and interview process. The 2015 Supplier Development Bootcamp delivered in Cape Town showed the entrepreneurs undertaking the grueling task of repositioning their businesses to become sustainable suppliers to large industry.

The programme focused on governance and scaling a business to meet demand, and culminated in a Supplier Showcase presentation session to private and public sector supply chain professionals. MEDO provides ongoing support with shared services, legal, accounting and marketing assistance, as well as introductions to markets. And that’s merely the start of the road to becoming a supplier.

the entrepreneurs we come across want to sell to big “Allbusiness because they think that’s where the “Big Bucks” are.

This cannot be further from the truth as the road to bankruptcy is paved with promises of high volume contracts and discounted prices. This is why we prepare both buyers and sellers for the era of Supplier Development.

Judi Sandrock is the joint-CEO and co-founder of MEDO. Judi has a degree from Wits in Applied Chemical Engineering, an MBA from GIBS and holds various cumlaude diplomas in marketing and project management.

Judi’s first foray into the Enterprise Development space was as VP at Anglo Zimele where she started the small community fund and opened the first 14 Hubs located around Anglo’s various operations. Judi also started the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship, spearheaded by Sir Richard Branson before she started MEDO in 2011 with Bjarke Gotfredsen.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

Supplier Development:

Bridging the Gap. Supplier Development is becoming one of the most important focuses in South Africa with the revised BBBEE codes. Since 2012 MEDO has been spearheading intense workshop programmes nationally aiming to empower entrepreneurs by providing training to assist those who have the ability to scale to the big leagues. Taking on one business at a time, our entrepreneurs are moving forward to become some of the most sought-after suppliers to major corporates around.

Over the week of 17-21 August 2015, MEDO hosted yet another of its highly acclaimed Supplier Development Programmes to ten entrepreneurs who are ready to become suppliers to big business. Over the week they took part in full-day intensive workshops where the week culminated in a Big Pitch where the entrepreneurs had the opportunity to present their businesses to a room full of corporates and executives. What truly makes the MEDO Supplier Development Programme unique is also exactly this element of the programme, we not only groom the entrepreneurs to be ready to partner with big business, we actually push them to dive head-first to build those relationships immediately after.

“The Supplier Development Programme exists to assist entrepreneurs who are in business and they have been supplying small individual businesses of private customers and they believe they are ready to supply big business. The thing about big business, is that it operates in a completely different way than small business because of governance and scalability.

For example, if you are used to supplying three or four air-conditioners a month, how will you manage in supplying 20 000?” Bjarke Gotfredsen, MEDO CEO and programme facilitator explains.

“The programme works over a week with intensive workshops during the day and prep for the following day in the evenings. It’s like a militarystyle bootcamp with no pause. Over the first three or four days we work together to build a presentation that they have to give to an audience on the Thursday, Big Pitch. At Big Pitch we have a number of CEOs, government representatives and press where the entrepreneur has five minutes and five slides to show what the business is about. Over the past few years that we have hosted the programme, we have heard from a lot of entrepreneurs that this presentation they developed becoming their main sales tool. It’s short and sweet and to the point. Many of these entrepreneurs have secured big clients and some have even sold the business off to bigger suppliers and started new businesses,” Bjarke adds.

Two-time Supplier Development graduate Pascal Nderitu and owner of PolAmco explains that he has received over R3 million rand in business through connections that he made in Big Pitch over the past year. “The value of MEDO to PolAmco is beyond measure. In terms of progressing my business merely through the business know-how of the bootcamps, MEDO’s impact is

truly immeasurable.”

“MEDO is in the business of economic development. We really try and introduce entrepreneurs to corporates and build that bridge between them whilst giving them the assistance they need to do so,” Project manager Nolu Tutani explains. It is, however key to remember that though we groom and introduce the entrepreneurs to these corporates, the onus is on them to seal those deals and even more importantly, deliver. After all, delivery is always key.

“At MEDO we have a few sayings, one being that good enough is simply not good enough. We always make sure that when we deliver and assist entrepreneurs and our clients that it is world class and that it is the best that can ever be. One of the other things, is that we find it very difficult to take no for an answer. We believe that the difficult things are the things that we should be doing. We’ve got a massive mountain to climb when it comes to economic development and job creation, so we must make sure that we keep going and we persevere. And in that goal we are not taking no for an answer,” MEDO CEO and adds on MEDO’s drive behind the Supplier Development Programme.

Go to page 66 to meet the Supplier Development Big Pitch presenters.

“A business isn’t a business without a customer, and there are a lot of private and public entities who are specifically looking to buy from small business and therefore Supplier Development is a key element in economic development.

-Judi Sandrock, MEDO CEO

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Images: Top: Our 10 Supplier Development entrepreneurs.

Left bottom: MEDO entrepreneur Kim Williams networking with Jenni Lawrence, MD of Verification Services of Grant Thornton.

Right bottom: During the Big Pitch entrepreneurs had five minutes and five slides to sell their businesses.

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MEDO AND ISUZU TRUCKS.

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FOR THE LONG RUN.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

My Treppie Experience: Azola Qhina, MEDO Treppie Manager Entrepreneurship is the major driver of competition, innovation and growth. South Africa, however, faces a high unemployment rate as well as a large entrepreneurial gap. So how do we address this?

Treppie, of course! Treppie is our mobile incubator that goes around the country to deliver information and resources with the aim to promote entrepreneurship. Treppie offers many interesting possibilities for communicating the merits of entrepreneurship to the different communities. We have met over fifty percent of our entrepreneurs through Treppie and with the new truck, there is nothing slowing us down to find even more.

In most communities, Treppie is the first source of information. Treppie plays a significant role in helping entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who have growth potential but limited access to other sources. This is one of many ways we help deliver economic transformation. We are deeply committed to ‘building the economy one job at a time’.

“enable By equipping people with the necessary skills, we them to push through the business barrier that is faced by a majority of entrepreneurs.

This is what Treppie is all about.

Through our grass roots work, we continue to deliver value to our communities.

This is because people need to know that there are options out there. We are giving them the option to build their own dreams. For some people entrepreneurship is just a distant dream that is impossible to achieve. But when we share the stories of our entrepreneurs that we have met through Treppie and who have gone through our development programmes, people get inspired. It gives us great pleasure when we speak to someone and watch them having an “aha” moment, so to speak, right in front of our eyes. And just for that brief encounter we get to have a positive impact on a person including how they think and how they view different scenarios.

With South Africa facing such a big entrepreneurial gap in comparison to countries such as the USA, Brazil, Russia, India and China, we need to invest in small-medium enterprises and aspiring entrepreneurs. We need to migrate them from the second to the first economy. This can be achieved through socioeconomic development programmes (such as Treppie) and job creation for the black unemployed and rural poor.

By equipping people with the necessary skills, we enable them to push through the business barrier that is faced by a majority of entrepreneurs.

This is what Treppie is all about, identifying those who want to leave a footprint and have the potential to contribute to South Africa’s economic growth.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

Treppie

on two more successful PE tours!

Over March and September 2015, MEDO took its iconic Treppie truck back to the wonderful entrepreneurs of Port Elizabeth. Having done a successful tour the end of 2014, the team were readier than ever to take on the Windy City armed with a brand new truck sponsored by ISUZU Trucks. Apart from delving deep into the community searching for entrepreneurs interested in one-day workshops and long-term MEDO programmes, the team also presented at the annual ISUZU Trucks conference.

‘Treppie’, short for entrepreneur is MEDO’s socio-economic mobile incubator. Kitted with state-of-the-art technology, Treppie is able to drive into the heart of any community to offer assistance to locals looking for employment and entrepreneurs looking to take their business to the next level. “There is a significant imbalance in South Africa’s economy with a high unemployment rate, especially among the black population,” treppie manager Azola Qhina explains, “At MEDO, we recognize that the biggest contributor to a country’s economic growth is the number of start ups. For this reason, Treppie plays a crucial role in promoting and creating entrepreneurship and therefore building the economy one job at a time,” Azola adds. MEDO CEO Judi Sandrock furthers, “We are delighted to bring the new ISUZU Treppie to communities in what we believe presents a great opportunity for us to assist in the development of emerging enterprises – a vital sector spearheading economic growth in our country. In doing this we have also created a unique opportunity for large organisations to involve themselves with these businesses and in so doing to advance their Enterprise Development and Supplier Development strategies.”

Over the week Treppie was at three different locations across Port Elizabeth assisting over 120 entrepreneurs.

Azola furthered that the community was especially welcoming and receptive to the project, “People are very keen to start their own entrepreneurial ventures, however, they don’t have the know-how. People appreciate Treppie because they are able to receive guidance as well as learn how to identify business opportunities.”

ISUZU Trucks CEO Craig Uren explains their involvement in the project, “We are comitted to stimulating economic activity in the Eastern Cape and the country as a whole. This also entails creating and tapping into entrepreneurial efforts which are often linited due to lack of resources. We are hopeful that the Treppie truck will not only bring essential information and services to the community, but will have tangible success stories to profile in the future.”

Treppie has an exciting year ahead with its nationwide tour having commenced early the year. Stay tuned for more news, there is definitely a lot more to come!

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

EDITORIAL

EXPERT OPINION

Exponential Technology, Business, Innovation: Jobs.

Our world is changing at an almost incomprehensible rate. We are seeing exponential growth in technology and its effect on the world around us. In the last century and more specifically in the last 50 years we have seen the use of the word innovation increase by more than fivefold. MEDO CEO Keith Matthews tackles the topic of innovation and the effects thereof: Technology: Technology innovation has re-written Moore’s law; which is the observation that over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years.

As a result our world is now filled with small or micro devices packed with technology; sensors, smart watches, smartphones, 3D printers, and robotics.

In their book Bold Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler estimate that the average smartphone today packs more than $900k worth of technology. The smartphone has replaced fax machines, copiers, digital cameras, modems, desk phones and more.

3D printing has brought about a whole new world. ‘Additive manufacturing’ as the technology is aptly named is threatening conventional manufacturing plants. Inventors, entrepreneurs and designers are able to rapidly prototype new products. This reduces time to market and increases profitability. Amazingly, the technology was first developed in the 1970’s but was too expensive to make available on any kind of scale. The principle of Moore’s Law has seen this change and 3D printers are available to the man on the street.

Technology no longer follows a linear curve. We live in a world where the development and growth of technology has become exponential.

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Business: With these technology advancements, the business opportunities have also become exponential. Examples of this are easy to see in the world of social media.

Instagram was developed in a garage by two entrepreneurs in 2010. Four years later, they have more than 300 million users.

Instagram was acquired by Facebook for $1bn in 2012 just two years after launch. At the time they had fewer than 15 employees.

Diamandis and Kotler on the cover of Bold make the following statement: “How to go BIG, create WEALTH and IMPACT the world.”

With the technologies available to us today, entrepreneurs and business people alike need to embrace this thinking and be bold with their business ideas. By 2020, the global population will reach 7bn and there will be an additional 3bn people connected to the internet. In 2012, Diamandis made the following statement: “In 2010, we had just short of two billion people online, connected. By 2020, that’s going from two billion to five billion Internet users. Three billion new minds who have never been heard from before are connecting to the global conversation. What will these people want? What will they consume? What will they desire? And rather than having economic shutdown, we’re about to have the biggest economic injection ever. These people represent tens of trillions of dollars injected into the global economy

Jobs: If this is what the future of technology looks like, how will this affect the skills that will be required in the job market?

Google provides the following insights regarding the essential skills for careers in the near future: Sense-making: The ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed.

Social intelligence: The ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions.

Novel and adaptive thinking: A proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based.

Cross cultural competency: The ability to operate in different cultural settings.

Computational thinking: The ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data based reasoning.

New Media Literacy: An ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication.

Design Mindset: Ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes.

Virtual collaboration: Ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team.

Are you ready for an exponential future?

“

What is innovation?

The action or process of innovating. The introduction of something new. Innovation is a new idea, more effective device or process/method. It can be viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, inarticulated needs, or existing needs. Innovation is crucial to the continuing success of any organization.

Synonyms: change, revolution, upheaval, transformation, metamorphosis, reorganisation, restructuring, remodelling, renovation, restyling, variation

After starting his career in engineering, Keith Matthews accumulated vast experience in the telecommunications industry serving as the Senior Business Director of BT Global Services before taking on the position of general Manager and MD of Sub Saharan Africa and South Africa for BT, a position he held for over six years. After BT Global Services, Keith moved on to become the General Manager of Neotel before taking the pwosition of CEO for MEDO Aero in 2015, a company registered under MEDO focused on STEM development through our various Space Programmes.

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

One small step for MEDO,

one giant leap for the future of STEM. MEDO is going to space with the help of enterprising young women in South Africa, reaching for the stars one satellite at a time...

MEDO has recently conquered major news headlines for being the first private company to acquire a satellite and launch. The headlines don’t end there, however as there are plans to acquire five more satellites until 2019. After partnering up with Morehead State University’s Space Programme focused on Young Women in STEM, in but a year’s time young South African women will be sending the satellite, which they have designed themselves across the ocean to find its own place among the stars.

A recent STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) report focused on the United States of America predict that 80% of all future jobs will require a STEM education. The same report suggested that people in STEM careers earn almost double per hour on average than people in non-STEM careers.

These statistics may sound like a glorious victory for all STEMrelated degrees and occupations, except for a chilling fact that currently only 10% of young women show an interest in STEM. North America, however is not the only country facing a STEM issue. On the 24th April 2015, Dr Azar Jammine of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) is quoted on News24 as saying ‘in the 2014 matric results, just 7.6% passed maths with more than 60%, while 5.5% managed the same in physical science.’ The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) – a cross-national study that measures mathematics and science achievement – tested 11 969 pupils in 285 South African schools in 2010 and 2011, and of the 48 countries that participated in TIMSS, South Africa came 47th for mathematics and 48th for science. In 2014, 28% of all learners writing matric last year failed any form of numeracy assessment.

More than half of the 75,8% of learners who passed were effectively grade-appropriately innumerate and fewer learners are taking the subjects that are required to address this country’s critical shortage. In the most recent World Economic Forum report on Education looking at the quality of Maths and Science, South Africa ranked 148th out of 148 countries.

And lastly, in a Department of Higher Education and Training Government Gazette of 2014, it is stated that eight of the top 10 occupations where there is a skills scarcity in South Africa, are STEM related.

To address their STEM issue, the US runs various Young Women in STEM programmes. For example, Google, NASA and various universities have their own programme, there is

also Girls who Code to mention but a few. MEDO, however has found inspiration from Morehead State University’s STEM programme. Morehead runs various Young Women in STEM programmes for various ages, with their most prestigious programme, Tech Trek focusing on high school learners that effectively sees the students design payloads for satellites that the university send up to orbit. The results of the programme speak for themselves, 73% of respondents said Tech Trek introduces them to STEM college majors of which they were previously unaware, and 87% of respondents said Tech Trek introduced them to new STEM careers.

At MEDO we don’t like to linger on problems, we focus on solutions and by taking a cue from Morehead we believe we found a sustainable solution.

MEDO has bought a Cube Satellite that will work as endpoint for the MEDO Space programme that will see young South African high school pupils effectively design the payload for the satellite that will go up into orbit in 2016. A Cube Satellite is exactly what it sounds like, a 10x10x10 cm box that can be launched into space. What makes a Cube Sat special is that because it’s so small, that rather to explode into a plethora of debris, the satellite merely burns out into dust after its lifecycle. What the young women will design for the satellite is its inner workings, its primary use, being what it is going to measure. The possibilities are endless in this regard and can measure temperature, sound or even radioactivity. Whatever the satellite will do in orbit, will be entirely up to the creativity and ingenuity of the learners.

The key aspect of this satellite programme, is that it is a long-term project as MEDO has secured funding from ISUZU Trucks to send up one satellite per year until 2019. This is a private-sector solution to South Africa’s STEM problem, and with it, we are not only taking on the USA with this project, but the world, as the sky is literally the limit.

“At MEDO we don’t like to linger on problems, we focus on solutions.

Go to page 36 to read more about the Space Programme.

Go to page 32 to meet some of the Space Programme participants.

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Images: See the Cube Sat that MEDO will be sending into space, as well as MEDO CEO Judi Sandrock at Morehead State University’s Space Centre in the USA.

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY EXPERT OPINION

Bjarke Gotfredsen is the Joint-CEO and co-founder of MEDO. Bjarke has a degree in Information Technology from the Business School in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bjarke arrived in South Africa in 1999 and continued with an MBA from GIBS. Bjarke has always been focused on Technology and Process Innovation, and started MEDO together with Judi Sandrock with a focus on process optimised enterprise and supplier development.

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EDITORIAL

Our Space partner:

Morehead State University

By Bjarke Gotfredsen, MEDO CEO and co-Founder

Morehead State University is located a couple of hours’ drive from Lexington in Kentucky State in the USA. The town, the nearby city and the state does not ring a bell for most people when it comes to space. We are used to Houston in Texas and Cape Canaveral in Florida for the big NASA stuff and we might even be aware of Mojave Desert in California where Richard Branson and Ex-Microsoft Paul Allen are busy with their space adventures. The Mojave Desert is also home to MEDO’s satellite launch...

Kentucky State: Kentucky is home to some of the top aerospace academic programmes in the USA. Of the 98 high schools across the United States that teach aerospace and aviation skills, 25 are in Kentucky. Aerospace accounted for $5.6 billion of Kentucky’s $25.3 billion in exports in 2013 — 22 percent of the value of all Kentucky exports.

For the first time, aerospace edged ahead of the export manufacturing of motor vehicles and parts, according to the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.

Kentucky’s aerospace industry grew by a stunning 47 percent the previous year and in 2014 Kentucky’s export of aerospace parts and products grew to $7.8 billion.

According to Joe Hall, a spokesman for the Cabinet for Economic Development, there are 51 companies that the state labels as “aerospace facilities”, such as GE Aircraft Engines in Madisonville and Lockheed Martin in Lexington to package delivery companies DHL and UPS. Much of the $5.6 billion figure can be traced directly to the presence of major manufacturers like GE, whose jet engines are used to power some of the aircraft manufactured by Airbus.

Currently, satellite design and production in Kentucky is just a tiny fraction of aerospace exports, a little more than $175,000 in 2013, according to figures released by the state.

Morehead State University: It is not the export figures of satellite design and production in Kentucky that makes Morehead State University a famous place in the nano satellite world.

Morehead State operates a 21-meter space tracking antenna and radio telescope, the only one that NASA uses for their deep space network outside NASA’s control and is one of a dozen large dishes in the USA. Morehead State opened a $16 million Space Science Centre in 2009 and established Morehead as one of five U.S. universities that offer a degree in space science. But more important is its people: Dr. Ben Malphrus is Professor of Space Science at Morehead State University

where he also directs the University’s Space Science Center. He served as project director of the design and construction of the 13 meter Morehead Radio Telescope and more recently the 21 meter Space Tracking Antenna operated by the Center. In 1994, 1995, and 1996 Dr. Malphrus was awarded the NASA JOVE research fellowship for research in the structure and kinematics of gravitationally interacting galaxies. This research led to the discovery of the first genuinely young galaxy ever observed in an interacting field, the NGC 5291-B. Ben runs an incredible organisation in the Space Science Centre. When he built the Space Centre he made sure it also had a planetarium and the research and development facilities host all equipment needed to develop nano-satellites with solarcell efficiency work stations, thermal vacuum chambers, Faraday cages, completely sound and radio dead test chambers and a gyro station for testing magnetic torque pointing mechanisms.

Ben convinced Dr. Bob Twiggs to come out of retirement in 2009 and join him for this project at Morehead State. Bob Twiggs, who retired from Stanford in 2008, joined the Morehead faculty in 2009 with the intention of working for two years, a plan that obviously fell by the wayside.

Twiggs was the co-inventor of the CubeSat reference design, along with professor Jordi Puig-Suari of California Polytechnic State University. Their goal was to enable graduate students to be able to design, build, test and operate in space a spacecraft with capabilities similar to that of the first spacecraft, Sputnik. Over time, the CubeSat design emerged as an Industry standard, widely adopted by universities, companies and government agencies around the world. The first CubeSats were launched into low Earth orbit in June 2003.

The launches of nano satellites are currently growing with 72%.

Space Prep and Space Trek: Not only is Morehead State behind the major evolution of the nano-satellites, such as the Cube Sat, the format used in the

latest launch of a satellite by South Africa, developed by Cape Peninsular University of Technology. Not only have they build a formidable environment with a super large radio telescope, planetarium and state-ofthe-art research and development facilities, they also host programmes for young preuniversity women, aiming at getting them interested in STEM. When I first met Bob Twiggs I was amazed how the university students had high-school learners at heart.

They questioned the presenters on issues relating to making material, technology and opportunities available for high-school learners. On the same day we bought tickets to fly to Lexington to visit Morehead State.

These Space Prep and Space Trek programmes are directed by Jennifer Carter, a former science teacher with a passion for all things space. She is a NASA Teacher Liaison, SOFIA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador, Zooniverse Ambassador and Pulsar Search Collaboratory mentor teacher.

She has taught courses ranging from planetary science and pulsar astronomy to satellites and space systems.

Economic Development: The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development is the primary state agency responsible for encouraging new jobs and investment in the state. New capital investment announced in Kentucky in 2014 totalled a state record $3.7 billion, spurring more than 15,000 projected new jobs. The Commonwealth also received Site Selection magazine’s nationally acclaimed Governor’s Cup for most economic development projects per capita last year.

MEDO is about Economic Development - the ED in MEDO, and the combination of developing youth with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics into new job creating enterprises, is exactly what MEDO was looking for, when finding a partner in Morehead State University we knew it was a match written in the stars.

Be sure to go to spacetrekky.org to learn more about Morehead State University’s Space Programme.

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FEATURE

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY MEDO NEWS

A Woman’s

World

When a friend invited Nomonde Nyakaza to partner with her construction and horticultural company, she was first hesitant to enter the traditional ‘man’s world’. Two businesses later Nomonde now owns her own construction company, Bantu Business Action Pty Ltd which is more than just a business, it’s her passion. Not only is she building the walls, she is also breaking through them.

Nomonde is a born and bred Capetonian with a deep love for the Western Cape. Although she grew up in an impoverished and oftentime negative surrounding, Nomonde wasn’t going to go though life life lying down.

“What makes me who I am today, is that I developed the ability to change the negative things that was said to me and about me into positive things. I always say if someone else can do it then why can’t I? If you believe in something it is your duty to do it before it is too late.”

After working as an employee for various jobs in various sectors, Nomonde tried her hand at management and sales as well as catering whilst joining the Western Cape’s RED Door initiative for developing small businesses. It is also here at RED Door where she found her future business partner taking the helm of a construction and horticultural company. “At that time I was in catering and we decided to partner to exchange some skills. At first I was shocked that she was a lady in construction, but I found that I enjoyed that part of the business much more than catering.

Together we worked very hard on both businesses, and when we finally split, ironically she took over the catering and I took the construction business.

Our partnership was a real twist of fate,” Nomonde jokes.

“An entrepreneur is someone who is able to bring ideas into practice to shape opportunities and in the process is thus able to bring work and opportunities to others. I believe

I was born to be an entrepreneur not an employee and what I am doing now is most definitely my passion.”

Nomonde joined MEDO’s Foundation Business Skills Programme as she realised that though she knows the in’s and out’s of construction, she lacked on the technical side of running Bantu Business Action Pty Ltd. “MEDO was a bit of a wake-up-call for me as I realised that I overlooked a lot of small things in terms of paperwork that I did not deem important. I had to track back to the basics to focus on small things such as marketing through the mere use of a business card that in the long-run has direct impact on the business.”

“ An entrepreneur is someone who is able to

bring ideas into practice to shape opportunities and in the process is thus able to bring work and opportunities to others. I believe I was born to be an entrepreneur.

In ten years time Nomonde sees Bantu Business Action having evolved to the point that they can host the complete construction experience, having architects, accountants and site managers working in the company.

Nomonde is also vocal that she wants to hire fresh minds straight from training as she wants to work with innovative technicians and also plough back into the youth of the country. “In ten years I want to be talking with big international corporates working brick by brick to build up the economy, I believe with the help of MEDO I will achieve these dreams, all I need to do is put in the work and the focus.”

Nomonde also furthers that she is in the process of building a network of woman-owned businesses, “I want to see Bantu working hand-in-hand with starting women-owned companies, working together to create jobs and grooming these startups so that they can prosper on their own. That way, we are setting fellow entrepreneurs up for success whilst building a strong support network. After all, you are only as strong as your network.”

Looking at the theme of ‘innovation in diversity’ Nomonde is quick to fire, “diversity unlocks innovation, and being in a diverse business it means that you are able to draw on innovative conclusions as you are open too a much bigger pool of creative ideas.” Nomonde was at first hesitant to enter Bantu Business Action on the basis that she is a woman, however she didn’t linger on that thought too long and jumped head first into a career that soon became her passion. Nomonde is a true iron lady, fearless and passionate, a deadly mix in the business world.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

A Space Review Maymoonah Stegmann, 16-year-old eleventh grader from the South Peninsula High School in Cape Town recently attended our Space Prep workshop from our Young Women in STEM programme. We caught up with the young lady to find out her thoughts on STEM, MEDO and that very exciting satellite...

Did you enjoy the Space Prep workshop?

I really enjoyed it very much and thought it was quite interesting. I was so happy to get the opportunity to learn and see and use the technology to build a Jiggybot and partake in the Space Programme.

What did you enjoy about it?

I was very excited and enjoyed the learning part but most especially I enjoyed to learn how to build a Jiggybot. It was captivating and challenging, but so much fun.

What did you learn on the day?

I learnt a lot of things, especially about how to solder. We also learnt how to build a circuit to construct the Jiggybot. I also learnt more about what about this Space Programme is and what it’s all about.

What do you want to study after school?

I would lke to go into teaching profession because I really enjoy working with children. I feel that knowledge and education is so important for our future generations.

Did the workshop open up ideas of other avenues to study?

I would love to be part of this Space Programme and hope that I meet the requirements to do so. The more I learn, the better decisions I can make for my study choices and I might even consider this field of interest.

Do you want to join the next workshop, Space Trek?

Yes, I would really love to join the workshop and get to know more about Payloads, Satellites and Space.

Why would you like to join Space Trek?

It will be a very good experience for me especially as I have never imagined taking part in something as big as this. It will be a challenging yet interesting and fun adventure.

Does the idea of designing the payload for the satellite excite you? Why? Yes, it definitely does as I have never heard or done something like this before and it sounds amazing.

Have you ever imagined yourself designing a payload for a satellite?

I never I would have imagined the opportunity of being part of such an amazing project.

Why do you think young women are less inclined to follow a STEM related degree and career?

Most of the young women are not interested in STEM because they might think they won’t be able to do it or they just imagine that it is better for the men to do it. But I think, however that we young women are fully capable.

Do you think this mindset needs to change, why?

Yes, because young women need to be inspired to take on projects like this and be independent instead of just thinking it’s impossible.

What is your final message to other young women like yourself about STEM, MEDO and Space Prep?

My message would be that everyone has to try learn more about this new and exciting venture. Also, we should be more confident and not to be afraid or hold back on anything, if this programme can help young women then why not give it a go?

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“

Most young women are not interested in STEM because they might think they won’t be able to do it or they just imagine that it is better for the men to do it.

I think, however that we young women are fully capable.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

Photo

Phenomenal Thembile Nazo from Fast Print Photo Productions, is a trained actor, performer, photographer and allround media lover. As a reward for passing primary school, Thembile’s mother gifted him a camera unbeknownst that a few years down the line she would put him on a path of entrepreneurship where he ended up photographing some of the biggest events around Cape Town.

Thembile grew up in the Eastern Cape and was raised by another major woman in his life, his grandmother.

“My grandmother was very business minded so I grew up constantly thinking of ways to sell and make money.” Thembi’s grandmother had a vegetable garden and sustained the family by selling the produce and seeds to the local community over weekends. She made use of her grandkids in this regard and so the business mindset flowed naturally to Thembile. When Thembi’s mother gifted him that fateful camera as a child, Thembile used his business mindset to take school photos and sell them to the pupils as a way to pay his mother back as she did not have a well-paid job.

After high school, Thembile decided that the arts were to be his calling as he enrolled for a performing arts degree. Even though he is not a professional actor today, he doesn’t regret the training in the slightest, “I learnt discipline and professionalism in the theatre and film industry, and was also exposed to valuable post production processes. Today I thus don’t look at the product alone, but

the theatricality of how the product is presented.” With his training, his childhood hobby of film and photography became a passion as he started doing behind the scenes photography on filmsets. He also enrolled in various photography workshops and never looked back since.

“

The term diversity in innovation means to be able to find creative ways of taking your business to people of different cultures and find acceptance and common links in your business with other entrepreneurs and industries.

“To me an entrepreneur means to be an independent business thinker with smart ways of overcoming challenges and being able to know how to take risk.” Thembile joined MEDO after applying for the Foundation Business Skills Programme when Treppie, the mobile incubator was in Cape Town last year. “I have learnt the importance of designing a

good business model, the advantages of corporate branding and the valuable role PR plays in presenting a business in the media. My dream is to turn Fast Print Productions into a full-service media business that is recognised worldwide, and I hope MEDO can help me develop to that stage.” Thembile sees his business as a solution to job creation challenges in South Africa as he wants to grow to become a competitor to the giants and monopolies of printing businesses.

“I want to play an active role in South African economic development”, he emphasises.

“The term diversity in innovation means to be able to find creative ways of taking your business to people from different cultures and find acceptance and common links in your business with other entrepreneurs and industries.” Thembile is running in a very competitive field, however is ready to combat those challenges with a wave of creativity and business skills he’s been harvesting since childhood.

One can’t help but smile, because Thembile might just be watching and pointing a camera at you and your business too!

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

MEDO Space Prep

A brand-new programme with the sky as the only limit It is predicted that 80% of all future careers will be STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) related. For the future we aren’t looking for the mechanic to put a car together, but an engineer or programmer to put a robot together who will do the mechanical work. MEDO is looking to the future by empowering young people today so that in five years they can enter the workplace competitively.

Image: Space Preppers showing off their finished jiggybots at the MEDO Cape Town offices.

After partnering with big business in their Supplier and Enterprise Development programmes, MEDO identified that there is a considerable shortage of technical skills required to fulfil the technical needs of businesses in this country. With this in mind, and after much brainstorming and months of preparation, MEDO is pleased to announce an ambitious long-term project aimed at encouraging a desire among the youth to develop these skills at school level, thereby paving the way for more Learners to study further in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – or STEM. With these skills developed, smaller business and suppliers of the future will have a better chance at supplying big business and government with the technical skills and know-how required for growth.

In fact, in a Department of Higher Education and Training Government Gazette of 2014, it is stated that eight of the top 10 occupations where there is a skills scarcity in South Africa, are STEM related.

The Young Women in STEM programme – sponsored by ISUZU Trucks and in collaboration with Morehead State University in the USA, the worldwide leading institution and innovator of the nano satellite formats called CubeSat and PocketCubes – will focus on young women in high school, with the ultimate aim of these young women constructing the payload to be launched with Africa’s first ever private satellite. The launch is scheduled for Q2-Q3 2016.

The programme includes the following engagements: Space Prep half-day workshops introducing young women 38

to electronics and the basics of practical science. By the end of the day each participant has built and soldered their own Jiggybot from scratch with technology that can be controlled with movement, light and sound.

Space Trek week-long camps during school holidays during which the young women design their satellite payload experiments, and test them using high altitude weather balloons and radio communication. The camp attendees will be identified at the Space Prep workshops. Extended school holiday internships with MEDO to finalise payload designs and building the satellite for launch.

Judi Sandrock, CEO of MEDO explains, “The intention of this programme is not to be a once off – it is to be the start of at least a decade-long drive to inspire young people to enter the science and technical fields. On the 24th April 2015, Dr Azar Jammine of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) is quoted in News24 as saying ‘in the 2014 matric results, just 7.6% passed maths with more than 60%, while 5.5% managed the same in physical science.’ In addition, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) – a cross-national study that measures mathematics and science achievement – tested 11 969 pupils in 285 South African schools in 2010 and 2011, and of the 48 countries that participated in TIMSS, South Africa came 47th for mathematics and 48th for science. Clearly there is work a lot of work to be done and we hope to spearhead this to ensure the technical skills business and government will need in the decades to come.”

Images: Top: Students first had to learn the ropes with the soldering iron before working on the circuit boards. Here Nina-Rose Clarke is hard at work in perfecting her technique.

Middle: When the all the functions were put together correctly on the circuit board, it would light up.

Bottom: Finishing up the jiggybot with legs and decorations, Likhona Tonisi and Thandile Phaliso test their designs just before the jiggybot race.

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Lights, Camera, ACTION!

#MEDOlive

On every third Thursday of the month, MEDO hosts an event

having an open dialogue, because in the end we all want to

in partnership with the City of Cape Town that aims to build a

build the city and we can only do that by building the economy

communication bridge between business and the City. Cape

of the city,” Judi Sandrock, MEDO CEO started off the first

Town councillor and head of Economic Development, Garreth Bloor acts as host for the evening, not only answering questions from entrepreneurs and business people present, but bringing with him an arsenal of interesting discussions, guests

“theWhat it is, is that we have these events same place, same time every month

so that we can get into a habit of having an open dialogue, because in the end we all want to build the city and we can only do that by building the economy.

and opportunities.

“What it is, is that we have these events the same place, same time every month so that we can get into a habit of 40

event in March this year.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity,” Councillor Garreth Bloor answered, “My role in the city is to ensure that we create the best environment for all enterprises which is critical in order to drive economic growth, and opportunities like

these are always great to come together and work directly with businesses.”

Since its inauguration in March, Third Thursdays has

MEDO’s latest networking event, Third Thursdays is one of the greatest opportunities for businesses to interact with local government around. Not only does it feature interesting discussions every month like clockwork, but it is live-broadcasted so that every person, no matter their location can join in on the fun.

steadily been building a following as the event is live-

because they create and generate growth, prosperity and

broadcasted via Youtube. Besides Garreth’s great stage

progress. There are people who are perceptive to identify

personality, it is also because of the relevant topics the event

opportunities and entrepreneurs are of course the first people

touch up on. Topics of the year include discussions on the

who identify those opportunities. The thing is that people

City’s budget and development plans, the various events

respond to access to information to inform important business

the City host and the opportunities they offer to businesses,

decisions. The City has gotten rid of regulations and barriers

technology and internet development, a celebration of the

that prevent people from earning effectively and conducting

City’s youth and youth opportunities, and in-depth interviews

business within reason. Now we need to work on access of

with Cape Town’s top entrepreneurs who have graced the

information, getting as much information out there to help

Africa Forbes list of top treps. Besides thought-provoking

shape those important decisions,” Garreth explains.

topics and notable entrepreneurs in attendance, big names

After the discussion, there is also a networking opportunity

such as Councillor Xanthea Limberg, Executive Deputy Mayor

where entrepreneurs and City officials share business cards in

Ian Neilsen, Sizwe Nzima, Rapelang Rabana and Ashley Uys

abundance.

have shared the spotlight with Garreth.

“The new heroes of South Africa are entrepreneurs

If you are interested in Third Thursdays, be sure to watch the whole discussion on medo.co.za/live every third Thursday at 6PM sharp.

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SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT SDP ENTREPRENEURS

42

FEATURE

FEATURE

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY MEDO NEWS

Behind the politics: Councillor Garreth Bloor Councillor Garreth Bloor, Head of Economic Development for the City of Cape Town and star of our monthly live-streamed event Third Thursdays sat down with the MEDO team to discuss politics, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Your story?

I grew up in Cape Town my entire life.

For a time I thought I’d be a journalist as I enjoyed writing and still do. Shortly after getting a news editor post in my second year I was the first student journalist to interview the then newly-elected Mayor of Cape Town. My first start-up experience came a year later. After meeting someone at a party I got a call asking if I’d get involved in a start-up company, to take it from a concept to something fully operational. We got R1million in funding shortly thereafter for a minority stake in the company and expanded it to the US. It was a fantastic experience and the networks built were amazing. Thereafter I had two associate posts at consultancies.

How did you get into politics?

I was asked to stand for election at university, was unexpectedly elected through some coalition-building and got the post of vice-president of the Student Representative Council. I enjoyed the process and serving in the student council. I declined to stand again for SRC President in order to pursue business in the start-up world.

Why did you get into politics?

I think politics is about standing for a cause. I do not see it as a career and never have. My belief is one should step forward and serve, even if just for a short period.

For the me the big cause is around creating an enabling environment for people to live out their talents and the life they choose without red tape and restrictions. Getting into government or politics does not have to constitute a career choice. You can simply step forward for a term to help create the enabling environment and return to the “real” world of creating wealth and value through the private sector or the advocacy and accountability avenue of civil society.

Your work in the city, is it a passion?

My work in the City is a passion. I was offered safe seat in the National Assembly in 2014 as a Member of Parliament for the

Opposition, but declined it to complete a five-year term in government, and not opposition. I prefer the doing part and I think cities are an exciting place for anyone looking to make change through the public sector. I like setting the agenda and executing on delivery. Today cities, not national governments, are driving growth and innovation. We are entering a new world dominated by cities and I’d recommend entrepreneurs understand this trend, simply because of the implications it may have on markets and doing business.

Define entrepreneurship?

To be an entrepreneur is to organise, manage, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. Your fiduciary duty is to your customers and shareholders.

What is the role/value of entrepreneurship in South Africa?

Successful entrepreneurs expand the size of the economy for everyone.

My mentor Temba Nolutshungu says it best: “Entrepreneurs are the new struggle heroes. They will take the freedom of democracy and make it meaningful through creating the wealth, value and jobs”. For that entrepreneurs require an enabling environment. And to create it is not only the role of not politicians, but think tanks and entrepreneurs themselves who MUST speak up and call for the conditions that make entrepreneurship and economic development possible. Government or high-level policy experts, no matter how well-intentioned, do not always know what is in your best interests. I do think the Index of Economic Freedom is a good scorecard of what is needed in a society that respects and enables entrepreneurs to create and expand businesses.

Explain the Third Thursdays Discussions to someone who has never heard of it?

It is a direct line to policy makers and successful entrepreneurs. You need both an enabling environment from government and business skills to succeed. Third Thursdays

covers both: you speak out on the issues affecting your businesses, understanding what government is doing and calling for reform where you believe things need to change. Secondly you meet those who have made it as entrepreneurs. For my part, having being privileged to work on the reform or repeal of over 300 old policies and by-laws in the City of Cape Town hindering business, I think it is a great platform.

What is the value of Third Thursdays?

Getting direct conversation with policy makers and successful entrepreneurs.

Value of networking to entrepreneurs?

It is said your network determines your net worth. It is simplistic, but captures a lot of truth. Some of the biggest personalities have said if they lost all their money, they’d make it back. Because they’ve focused on their networks and demonstrated the value they can add.

Explain ‘diversity in innovation’?

You need to get the best ideas put forward to innovate to the best of your ability. I am amazed how firms in other parts of the world hire all sorts of people.

A case in point are the big banks who hire philosophy majors. The point you want to get all angles and perspectives. No one knows it all. An entrepreneur coordinates access to specialized knowledge to give them an edge and needs to act on that knowledge to deliver value and build a solid business.

Any closing satements?

Cape Town is well-positioned as an ideal location for entrepreneurs. We offer the lifestyle and networks that attract the talent many in the world compete for when it comes to hiring the very best. With the right policy environment, we can enable the flourishing of the greatest driver of development the modern world has known: the entrepreneurial spirit of the human mind.

Entrepreneurs have fantastic ideas and policy has to keep up with technology and innovation if we are all to succeed.

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MEDO Photo Diary:

Third Thursdays with Garreth Bloor

Every Third Thursday of the month we host a livebroadcasted discussion with Councillor Garreth Bloor from the City of Cape Town and his exclusive guests. Be sure to tune in every Third Thursday at 6PM via medo.co.za/live not to miss any of the interesting conversations!

Images: During the broadcast we have an audience of roughly 50 that comprises of entrepreneurs, City of Cape Town representatives and other business people.

There is also a Q&A session after the discussion for either Garreth or his guests.

This is also live broadcasted ensuring immediate and true answers to any range of subjects.

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Images: After all the questions have been dealt with, the broadcast shuts down. At this point we invite our audience to a networking function that sees the most amazing connections being made.

Ministers meets entrepreneurs, partnerships are born out of the extent of an evening, even CEOs and MDs talk shop with City of Cape Town officials. Third Thursdays is It is truly the only event of its kind.

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

A MEDO 5-minute Workshop: Sales & Marketing

By Carla de Klerk, MEDO Editor-in-Chief

Businesses often confuse the two terms of ‘Sales’ and ‘Marketing’, believing that marketing will bring in the sales. This, however, is of course wrong. Where marketing costs money, sales is the one bringing money in, and after all, isn’t the definition of a sustainable business receiving more money that is going out? This is a topic we often explore in our Foundation Business Skills Programme in finding a conclusion of a healthy relationship between sales and marketing.

Let’s talk Sales: The first thing to consider when looking at your business is “The What”. What is it that you are selling, be it a product or service? What is it that you do? How do you do it? What does it take for you to do it?

“The What” is an encouragement to look at your business holistically, and therefore becoming an expert on the topic. Look at your costs. All your costs. This includes the basic costs such as rent and utilities, but also those that many often forget such as airtime, petrol, transport and stationery. All small businesses need to sit down and start making lists as to all the costs that go into to putting out that product or service. Only when you know the minimum cost it takes you to deliver, can you work on a minimum price for you to make a profit. Remember, the goal is to get in more than you are putting out.

Costs that are a bit more difficult, but no less important to calculate, is that of time and risk. Take the example of an entrepreneur in the clothing manufacturing industry. If there were only one person on duty having to deliver 500 tracksuits, there will no doubt be long hours of overtime work. Then add the scenario that the industrial sewing machine breaks. What then? The cost of time and risk needs to be calculated into the cost. Besides the fact that you need to make more than you’re 46

putting out, it all needs to be worth your time, right?

Now you know your product, so you move on to “The Who”. Who are you selling to? Why are you selling to them?

Have you identified a specific target market? Is your target market needs or commodity-based?

I met an entrepreneur, John, a while ago who builds canopies for bakkies (trucks). He was incredibly proud of the fact that he was able to produce the canopies for a much cheaper price than any of his competitors. The problem he faced, however, was that he was sending out quotations to areas such as Bishopscourt (traditionally a very wealthy neighbourhood) that corresponded to his production price, thinking that his cheap quote will draw hordes of customers.

Contrasting to his expectations, his quotations sent out to Bishopscourt always came back with a negative response with the comment: “Product is too cheap”.

The lesson that can be taken away from this case study is basic: Know your customer. Each area, community, group, neighbourhood is a different target market. Different targets have different expectations regarding price and quality. After all, a millionaire in Clifton and a small business owner in Khayelitsha are two very different people with different abilities and needs.

Entrepreneurs need to know exactly who they are serving, and

“

The lesson that can be taken away from this case study is basic: Know your customer. Each area, community, group, neighbourhood is a different target market. Different targets have different expectations regarding price and quality. After all, a millionaire in Clifton and a small business owner in Khayelitsha are two very different people with different abilities and needs. they need to know and understand that target market very well.

Otherwise they may attract or push away the wrong customers.

John, for example did not know his customer, and because of that they did not want to do business with him.

So how do you locate your ideal target market? Research.

You talk to people. You call up your competition for quotes. You communicate with your current customers. Your ideal customer is someone who can say ‘yes’ immediately to your product/ service with no other permissions required, and they have to be able to pay for that product/service as well, wanting to buy from you is simply not enough. When you have done your research regarding your cost price, you know the minimum amount you need to get in in order to make a profit. If your target market you identified can’t pay that, you are in the wrong market. Easy.

When you have checked your what and who on the list, only then you move on to the “How Much”. You know your own costs, you know what your target market can take/will take, so now all that remains is making money, right?

Almost, let’s just go over some ground rules first. Let’s take the case study of John, the canopy maker.

He thought as his prices were much lower than that of his competitors, customers would rush to him. His price wasn’t market-related and it wasn’t competitive. With pricing you can easily attract a wrong crowd. Think for a moment, do you honestly want the customer looking for the cheapest buy? Cheap buyers are not loyal customers who come back year after year.

They scavenge for bargains with no value of quality. Fact of the matter is, know your business, know your customer and you will reach the goal of getting more money in than you are putting out.

colour can put someone off your business, think for example about the colours associated with a designer (vibrant, bright colours) compared to that of a lawyer (dark, basic colours signifying stability).

Now the way you look is one thing, the message you send out is another. You need to know exactly what you are saying. When someone looks at your flyer, for example, there can be no mixed messages, what you do, where you do it and why you will make their lives easier need to be said clearly with no mixed messages. People hardly spend time looking at advertisements, make sure yours pops out at them, and urges them to come to your business with no further questions asked.

Having a great brand and clear message is only the beginning of the process, however. To make sure that message gets read by the right people, the people that will actually add to your business, you need to target those people directly without wasting anything on people who won’t. You need to circulate your message through a media channel that will reach your customer, as you should have defined it back in sales. A great example of this is an entrepreneur who fixes and replaces windshields. He decides to invest with flyers. Instead of standing at an intersection handing out flyers to every car that passes, he goes to carparks in communities that he identified as his ideal customer and places flyers in the windows of cars that he sees need either replacing or fixing. He directly addresses people who has a need for his service, by cutting those out that don’t.

The medium is everything and doesn’t need to be expensive, another example is that of a pest-control business who sponsored a children’s soccer team with free branded T-shirts.

The kids, of course aren’t his target market, but the kids’ parents who are his target market, will undoubtedly see the branding on them as the kids wear and re-wear the shirts.

Marketing is all about thinking creatively about getting your name out there and it can be as simple as a good wordof-mouth reputation. A good idea is to track your marketing means by asking new customers how they came heard about you. That will also give you great insights about your customer.

The fact of the matter is, you need to be knowledgable either way. Know your business and know your customer. Knowledge is power, become an expert of your field and you’ll know exactly where you are going, and to where you will be able go…

“Marketing is all about

thinking creatively about getting your name out there and it can be as simple as a good word-of-mouth reputation.

Let’s talk Marketing: The key thing to remember when pumping money into advertising and marketing is the same principle that comes from sales; it needs to bring in more money than your putting out. So you need to ensure that you market effectively and efficiently, in order to bring those prospective customers in.

Firstly you need to look at branding; your business identity. This can be a logo, slogan, colours associated with you and even something as simple as your employee attitude.

It’s what people see when they look at, or think about your business. This seems simple, but something even as basic as

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FEATURE

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY MEDO NEWS

Sporting

a business

Munro Montanus is a star player. At the moment he is in finishing his Masters Degree, ranks in the top squash players of the Western Province, and runs his own business, Montanus Sports Management Physiotherapy.

He’s not only running track, he’s running up the corporate ladder ever searching for that bigger milestone.

Born and bred Capetonian, Munro simple, he is looking at the customer Montanus grew up the youngest of model. “For me an entrepreneur is three siblings in a family that always someone who creates a business that put emphasis on discipline, education adds value both in product and more and more than anything, good grades. importantly, in service. Service is what Although Munro did not succeed really creates a sustainable business particularly in academics, sports venture.” Currently Munro is running were always where he thrived, be it in a private physiotherapy practice, the fencing, rugby, cricket or squash. Today future, however is anything but just Munro is even ranked as one of the top private. squash players in Western Cape. But it is because of his family background I believe the discipline, strength that Munro believes he is the overachiever that he is today, “My family and determination you build in the is a very important component of gym, will inevitably translate to other who I am and I would not be able areas of your life. You just need the to be where I am had they not been right incentive and guidance and there to support me in my choices that’s where my gym model will be and endeavours. Above all I value a great benefit to clients. truth, honesty, responsibility and initiative.”

As he is still completing his “My dream is to have a gym facility Masters degree in physiotherapy, that has a multi-disciplinary space Munro is relatively new to the business for physiotherapists, dieticians and world. But though he may be new, he so forth to help transition amateur is dripping with passion, “Being and athletes to becoming professionals entrepreneur requires a certain amount or even non-competing athletes. of passion for what you are doing so Arnold Schwarzenegger said ‘the that it doesn’t only revolve around the same resistance you feel in the gym money. Fortunately my business is both is the same resistance you feel in life’, a job and a passion and I am constantly and that’s what I also believe. The looking for ways to build it toward the discipline, strength and determination expectations I have for it.” The way he you build in the gym, will inevitably looks at building his sporting empire is translate to other areas of your life.

“

You just need the right incentive and guidance and that’s where my gym model will be a great benefit to clients.”

Munro reached out to MEDO as he decided not to say no to any new experiences. “I learnt a few things, especially when talking in terms of marketing, in how I should get my professional name out there.” After the Foundation Business Skills Programme, Munro will focus his time on finding an angel investor in order to realise his dream of a fully functioning, and all-round equipped gym. Apart from his dream, Munro is also working toward the goal of giving back to his fellow physiotherapy colleagues. “I want to enable new graduating physiotherapists and give them the opportunity not to have to struggle like I have in order to build a physiotherapy practice. If I could give more physios a chance to step up into a certain role and grow as both a physio and business man, I would be very satisfied with my life.”

In ten years Munro sees himself as a successful business man, physiotherapist and sportsman. For many that may seem a bit ambitious, but luckily Munro has a background of discipline and determination that few possess. He is working hard towards his goal, or maybe it’s just the sportsmanlike competitiveness settling in…

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Mulaudzi Alexandra Tours What’s the itenerary?

Over a 3-hour tour you’ll

experiences only Alexandra can I N T R O AT 1 3 t h AV E N U E N E X T T O A L E X A N D R A S TA D I U M SEE YOUR TOUR GUIDE’S HOME V I S I T T O T H E L O C A L D AY C A R E B E E R TA S T I N G AT A S H E B E E N VISIT TO A CHURCH VISIT TO A SCHOOL VISIT TO THE HOSTELS PA N O R A M I C V I E W O F A L E X A N D R A V I S I T M A N D E L A’ S H O U S E

“

Cycle through the historical township of Alexandra for a once in a lifetime experience

Alexandra Bicycle Tours offers bicycle rental and bicycle tours within Alexandra township.

Our tour focuses mostly in culture, history and lifestyle of the community in Alexandra.

We take tourists around the township on bicycles, bikes and walking tours as we show them our heritage sites and the township as a whole.

Mulaudzi Alexandra Tours Founder and CEO,

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1 3 8 - 11 AV E N U E , A L E X A N D R A J H B , 2 0 9 0

TEL: 061 3657 695

JEFF@PUBLICBICYCLES.CO.ZA

W W W. A L E X A N D R AT O U R S . C O . Z A

FEATURE

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY MEDO NEWS

The power of communication At one of MEDO’s regular networking events Final Fridays, famed entrepreneur and recruitment mogul, Adelaide Matlejoane acted as guest speaker to inspire entrepreneurs.

Adelaide built a multi-million corporation from scratch whereafter at the peak of success lost it all due to SARS difficulties. She didn’t falter in the face of failure, however, and is currently building herself to a stronger position than ever before.

Her recipe for success? COMMUNICATION.

“An entrepreneur is a thinker, a risk taker, a nonconformist, innovative and goes against the norm.

It’s about seeing chaos, and making something out of that, making the best out of chaos.”

Adelaide grew up in the dusty streets of Soweto along with three sisters, a grandmother and single mother. Since school days Adelaide followed the route of innovation by selling ice lollies, bought from a R2 allowance to be able to buy expensive items for the household. She was also the first in her family to attend university where she majored in Science and Maths. “I was always the trailblazer in my family,” she explains.

Unfortunately, an academic life was not on her path as she failed her degree and had to return home after her sponsors pulled out. “I had to come home with my tail between my legs, but I wasn’t going to stay down for long.” With her background in Maths, Adelaide found employment in a bank and was quickly moving up the ranks of the business. “I loved my job but I had to leave as I became caged in, hitting a glass ceiling of promotion. I never wanted to wait 25 years to get that big promotion, I needed to move forward and I wanted to do it fast. Adelaide found herself at the head of a recruitment company, and quickly fell in love with the industry past than the wheels of promotion. “I was empowering people, I was finding people jobs and more than that, made a direct positive difference in people’s lives.” After a couple of years, Adelaide started her own company, “I had to take a graveyard shift as a call centre executive so I could work on the business at day, and also had to sell my car and move back home to save money, but it was all worth it when

the big contracts finally came rolling in.”

Fast forward a few years into the future, and Adelaide was the go-to recruitment agency for major corporates such as Multichoice, and had offices scattered all across the country. When talking about her success of breaking into the business of major corporates, she continually refers to breaking the wall of relationships. “People had long-standing relationships, long-time friends whom they used for their businesses. I worked very hard to break through those relationships.

One of my strengths is that I am very adaptable.

When I get into a situation I can make a good judgement. But in the end, it was all about communication.” Adelaide explains that when she approached a possible client, she always made sure to approach them in their home language, or the language they were most comfortable communicating in. “When I went to Bloemfontein, I spoke Afrikaans, in Durban I spoke Zulu, in Port Elizabeth I spoke Xhosa.

Even when travelling abroad I made sure to know at least the local greetings. In the end success is just about listening to people and really taking care of their needs.

After being forced to leave her recruiting agency behind, Adelaide became a motivational speaker and writer. She is, however in the process of starting up a new recruitment agency and will be contacting old clients and friends very soon.

When that happens, she won’t beg, or oversell her new company, she will merely chat to old business partners, communicate, connect and network.

And that is a valuable lesson for all entrepreneurs to take home.

Adelaide’s rules to live by: -Ethics: Never lose your integrity -Hard work never killed anyone: Think of a funnel, pour everything you have into that funnel and you’ll see a little glimmer of success pour out. If you really want to make it, you need to work hard, always.

-Respect time: Time is money, and it is a valuable resource.

-Balance: Focus on your life, yourself, work and of course money. Never forget to take care of yourself.

MEDO Braamfontein hosts Final Fridays networking events like these the last Friday of each month. Visit medo.co.za for more info.

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

In the business of travel

When Shai Mkhulungu decided to start up a travel and tourism agency, Iliso Tours and Events, he took the road less traveled by building a model that focused on walking tours of Cape Town.

He made use of the resources around him, and today even boasts of his own bus for tours. He has taken the creative approach to the tourism agency, and with this mindset he is already looking to expand nationally.

For most of his life, Shai has lived in and around Cape Town. For most of his adult life, he has also been involved in and around the tourism industry. “At school I involved myself with an exchange organisation assisting with organising programmes and events for American exchange students.” In the end Shai enjoyed this extracurricular so much that he decided to study Tourist Management at the College of Cape Town. During his studies he started doing city tours by picking tourists up at the Cape Town Tourism Visitors Centre and taking them on a walking safari from to the train station and company gardens. Those days his tours were not quite structured, but very much adventurous as he never followed an exact itinerary, but rather let the tour evolve naturally.

“Tourism is most definitely my passion. To most people travel is a hobby, but I am very lucky to be able to turn that into a career as I get to see and experience so much on a daily basis.”

Shai decided to become an entrepreneur as he struggled to find formal employment after completing his degree, and would thus like to plough his success back into the economy by creating jobs once he is more successful. “In the end my goal is to be able to grow, to change what you have and to show progress in order to make South Africa a better country.” Although he wants to expand to across the whole of the country, he firmly emphasises that his dream

project would be to expand his business to his home village in order to create jobs for his community. He firmly emphasises that he believes tourism carries the ability to shape the country, and that he runs Iliso Tours and Events with that belief in mind. “Entrepreneurship is key to South Africa, as it not only provides job creation and economic sustainability for you as entrepreneur, but the community at large,” he passionately affirms.

Shai came into contact with MEDO nearly two years ago though the Treppie Truck, although the Foundation Business Skills Programme was his first programme. “MEDO took my business to the next level as I learnt how to deal with business challenges. I had no idea of business legalities and was facing threats of business dissolvement. MEDO really came to my rescue and I really want to continue with their programmes until my business becomes able to provide employment opportunities.”

If he were to sum up what he learnt in the programme in three words, he merely states, “honesty, strength and perseverance.”

Shai lives according to the motto “You have a long way to go, so you must adapt yourself to survive,” very fittingly to the tourism industry.

What makes Shai and Iliso Tours and Events so special, is that Shai not only adapts to his situation, he actually makes the best of what he has whilst keeping a watchful eye on the future.

Do yourself a favour, take a tour!

“Entrepreneirship is

key to South Africa, as it not only provides job creation and economic sustainability for you as entrepreneur, but the community at large

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FEATURE

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY MEDO NEWS

Keeping ahead: Manufacturing Trucks, selling tech, investing in innovation.

Sipho Sandla has taken over as the General Manager at Kanu ACT, recently acquired as subsidiaries of ISUZU Trucks South Africa. With over twenty years of experience in mining and manufacturing, the engineer was interviewed by Carla De Klerk as to how he plans to keep ahead in tech while investing in innovation through partnerships and employees.

The role you have stepped into is full of opportunity, how will you use your experience to your advantage?

I have been looking forward to taking my place here since the opportunity was presented to me. My role before this one was in the manufacture of the ISUZU Trucks chassis and cab plant, and moving into truck body and customisation is certainly the next step for me. My career has given me vast experience in the set up and optimisation of manufacturing plants, including many of the techniques that we apply here at Kanu ACT. In my first week we applied the first of many Japanese methodologies that I have been gifted with, and the results have been increased motivation and efficiency. The business was very well run before we took over the reins, yet all enterprises develop legacy processes and systems that need to be replaced. The investment in methodology and process optimisation we will receive from ISUZU Trucks will be as valuable as their financial investment in the operation.

Your goal is to expand the production capacity to serve a greater market share. What will you target to resourcing this growth?

Through my career I have learned that businesses are built by people, and the recruitment of the right people will be the driver of the growth we are seeking. We are unique in that we can innovate products for our customers, like the mobile clinic we built recently to take high tech medical

services into remote and under-resourced communities. This type of innovation demands high creative and technical skills, so we will be looking for those with these abilities, I expect that the hiring of the right people will keep me awake at night.

This change will bring about uncertainty and my role as a leader will be to nip any fears in the bud to retain our great people.

With the retirement of the founders and early contributors to Kanu ACT we will experience a brain drain over the next two years, making effective knowledge sharing with the new recruits essential.

You mentioned your excitement with your new role, can you share why this is so?

The growth of our economy is crucial to our success as a free country, and whenever someone buys a truck it means that there is work for it to be done. We have the opportunity to innovate new and competitive truck bodies for our customers so that they can deliver more, faster, and for longer. ISUZU Trucks has a valuable mechanical edge with for example the introduction of AMT technology, essentially an automatic transmission with the ride comfort of a passenger vehicle. Also, power steering has ensured that more women are taking up the opportunities of driving our trucks, and therefore we will build bodies to suit their businesses and the products they need to deliver. The MEDO Treppie mobile incubator is one such innovation, providing a business centre for those starting out

with their new venture… and we want to build and deliver trucks to all of those entrepreneurs!

In a healthy market there are always competitors, how will you keep ahead of yours?

As I have experience in the ISUZU Trucks business, I have relationships with the dealership principles, and these are relationships I will nurture and build.

The customer buys from a dealership and therefore we need to promote our innovative product development and solutions at that first point of contact. It certainly helps being in the ISUZU Trucks SA stable as we have a strong established brand to build upon. Of course, this association also sets the bar very high, and we will need to strive continuously to deliver the highest quality and improve relentlessly.

What do you see as a “quick win”?

In manufacturing, Process Innovation drives Value Creation. I see that by introducing many of the process innovations I learned from my Japanese colleagues in ISUZU Trucks we can make great improvements in throughput by probably lowering costs. The MEDO team will be assisting us in analysing our product lines so that we can balance what we make to stock and against orders so that we can level our production rates.

We want to run at a throughput that is optimised to our capacity, and process innovation will give us that.

MEDO Photo Diary:

Youth Day Space Prep

On the 16th of June, MEDO celebrated Youth Day through launching its Young Women in STEM programme, Space Prep which saw high school women effectively design and put together a little jiggybot robot. See all the action here:

Images: From the get-go the Space Prep participants were ready for action even before they put their safety goggles on for soldering and playing with circuitry.

Apart from Councillor Garreth Bloor wishing the young women luck from the Mayor herself, a press frenzy also overtook the classroom just before the jiggybot robot race which saw the likes of ETV News and SABC News interviewing both participants and staff.

Besides learning some valuable handson knowledge of tech, robots and soldering, it was truly a fun experience for all involved.

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MEDO NEWS

MEDO 5-minute workshop: Business Etiquette

By Noluthando Tutani, MEDO Project Manager

“The concept of etiquette is essential

when trying to build a business and a good reputation. The SME sector is extremely competitive and improper behaviour or bad first impressions can make or break a business relationship.

But in this day and age of doing business globally, where cultures and nationalities have different rules, how does one know what the rules are?

Always be on time Punctuality shows common courtesy and respect, and is thus exceptionally important. Remember: Time is Money. Being late for a meeting is a sign of being unprofessional and not having respect for the person who has made the time to meet with you. When you are late, you appear disorganised and inconsiderate. Should you run late for whatever reason, decorum dictates that you call the parties with whom you are having a meeting before the scheduled time and inform them that you will be late by however many minutes.

Body Language Many of us are unaware that what we feel and think reflects in our body language. We give off many thousands of unconscious body signals that others read and instantly react to. Smile and make eye contact with the other person as you shake their hand. A firm handshake is a sign that you are present and acknowledge the person you are engaging with. Open and positive body language include confident gestures, sitting or standing up straight and showing interest by nodding your head or leaning in slightly.

Personal Appearance First impressions count and a professional image creates a positive impression with your clients and peers. Being dressed casually or even worse shabbily may make your potential clients or investors doubt your ability to deliver on the services you claim to offer. People are constantly assessing you on your appearance, posture, social etiquette and graces. It would be unfortunate to lose business because you were not dressed appropriately. This does not mean you need the most expensive clothing, however.

Dress neatly rather than looking like you are ready to go for a night out. People in creative industries feel that they can get away with sloppy dressing, but it is not the case even there. Business is business, no matter what industry you’re in.

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Email Etiquette A good flow of communication establishes trust and improves the efficiency of any business. With email being the leading business communication tool it is important to remember the following things. Always respond; even if you are just acknowledging you have recieved the message, don’t leave clients and investors out in the cold. Always start and end with a greeting. Never use slang, shorten words or use negative or aggressive tones in messages.

Always re-read messages and use a spell-check to make sure you have not made any spelling or grammar errors. Lastly, it is a good idea to send thank you notes after a meeting and to follow up on contacts you may have made at a networking event you attended.

You’ll stand out from the crowd by doing so and it will reflect well on your company too.

Observe Cultures in Business Building successful business relations across cultures involves a continued effort to recognise and appreciate the other person’s expectations and business practices. Research your customer or business associates by finding out about cultural/religious holidays, suitable business or formal attire, business hours, greeting practices, meeting formalities and acceptable venues, time sensitivities, body language and any other possible aspect of etiquette.

Know your Customer or Investor It always creates a good impression when you know about your customers or investors and their businesses. For example, if you are attending a meeting or doing a presentation, do research about them before the meeting. Try and find out how the business works, their vision and what they stand for. Find out who you are meeting and their role in their company. Having as much information possible will help you to tailor your presentation to the specific needs of the client and will reflect positively on yourself and your business.

MEDO IS CALLING ALL ENTREPRENEURS:

Are you an entrepreneur?

Do you want to start a business?

Do you want to grow your business?

Do you want to import and export?

What does MEDO offer?

- Turn your idea into a business - Develop business management skills - Become an effective leader - Build a strong & effective team - Develop a strong customer base - Build strong networks & profitable relationships

Building the economy one job at a time Call us: 010 500 5555

Visit us: medo.co.za

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The Business of dreams

Ndabashinze Ruvugo from Buato Trading CC is in the business of general trading and electronics.

Although he looks to build his business to a globally recognisable brand, he is pushed forward by the desire to develop the economy by building his workforce. It is no wonder that he lives by the saying “each and every one must participate for change or progress.”

Before moving to South Africa 15 years ago, will contribute to social development. I am an Ndabashinze lived in the Democratic Republic entrepreneur because I’m a leader, because I of the Congo. Although he was born into a want to break the harrowing employment stats. poor family, his parents did everything they For example, my dream project is to expand my could to ensure that he finished school. In business to imports and exports on the level that this regard he also had his first tastes of the I can hire 100s of employees. I want to be able business world as he travelled with his mom, a to make a both direct and indirect impact on small business owner to neighbouring countries people’s lives.” selling food products. When he moved to the Ndabashinze contacted MEDO after Mother City, Ndabashinze worked as a security encountering the Treppie truck on its Cape guard for a couple of months before turning to Town tour in 2013 and has recently finished entrepreneurship himself. “I wasn’t really getting the Foundation Business Skills Programme. “I paid, and I remembered the small business back learnt more than I could ever imagine; credibility home. When I started, in my business, networking, I had a barbershop, marketing, presentation Entrepreneurship isn’t accessory and electronics skills, SARS and the unique an easy road to take. You value proposition. I feel like a stall all working from the street, now I have an must have the spirit to work walked away as a much more actual store, a plot and serious business owner.” like a slave seeking to live a double storey house. It “An entrepreneur is may sound strange, but a dynamic person who is like a king. Although the you get a different type of challenges are sometimes able to manage creativity confidence from relying on with logic, who doesn’t fear hard to overcome, I cannot crossing borders for new yourself instead of being an employee. Entrepreneurship afford to lose my passion and opportunities. An entrepreneur isn’t an easy road to take. someone with the aim to that’s what keeps me going iscreate You must have the spirit to jobs that people will forward. work like a slave seeking to benefit from. It is someone live like a king. Although the who doesn’t wait for the challenges are sometimes hard to overcome, I rain to prepare the land, and I believe that is cannot afford to lose my passion and that’s what also who I am.” Ndabashinze has big dreams keeps me going forward.” not only for his business but the people around Besides it being his passion, Ndabashinze him as well. Although his dreams might take looks at his business at an economical level. a few years to take action, one should never “The role of entrepreneurship for South Africa underestimate the tenacity and motivation behind is primarily reducing the high unemployment dreams, especially those with such a fearless statistics, which will allow economic growth and entrepreneur behind them.

“

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McCannJHB912499

YOU DON’T BUY A TRUCK,

The purchase of an Isuzu truck is the beginning of a relationship.

It’s a long-term commitment from us to ensure that your truck is always on the road and keeping your business moving. Our aftersales service is not just a service, it’s an ethos.

YOU JOIN A TEAM.

Customer Care and 24 Hour Roadside Assist call 08600 ISUZU (47898).

For more information or to locate your nearest Dealer, visit www.isuzutrucks.co.za

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

FEATURE

MEDO NEWS

MEDO 5-minute Workshop: Finding Business Opportunities

By Carla de Klerk, MEDO Editor-in-Chief

“I don’t know where to find opportunities.” That’s a line that should be burnt out of entrepreneurs’ vocabulary. Opportunities are abundant, around us everywhere. It is merely a choice to see them or not.

An entrepreneur is someone who sees opportunities and gaps where no one else does. This means he or she isn’t poor. Poor, of course being the acronym, POOR: Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly.

The secret of success is saying “yes” to the right opportunities at the right time, something we train entrepreneurs to do in our Opportunity Recognition Workshops.

Take a newspaper, any newspaper and start paging through it. First just scan through it, and then start reading the articles.

Become aware of your surroundings, whether it be in your community or country. Know what is happening around you. If there’s a draught in the Limpopo it would hardly be the time to sell seedlings to farmers, would it? Take a second to become aware of the socio-economic situation around you, remember you need to be fulfilling a need. Needs and necessities change constantly based on a myriad of socio-political factors.

Now that you are aware of the socio-political-economic climate around you, it is time to start looking for solutions. Let’s keep with the draught in Limpopo, what would be a necessity to fruit farmers?

Maybe a nutrient spray that will aid plants to keep growing with less water, maybe some kind of sun shield so that the plants don’t lose as much water during the day. Possibilities are endless.

“But I’m not in the agriculture industry!” Someone calls in the background. No, you are not, but you may be in sales and suddenly your stock of citrus has either a shocking price hike or the quality has gone drastically down. Maybe you need to start looking at buying from farms in the Western Cape or somewhere

else that produces citrus fruit. Maybe you will be able to bang a deal that allows you to sell a much higher quality product at a better price. The fact of the matter is, you won’t know what you can do if you aren’t out there researching every aspect of your field, looking for both problems and solutions, would you?

Take another example, you are a clothing manufacturer. Very soon it will be the Rugby World Cup and the year after that will be the Olympic Games. Official merchandise can cost fortunes up to a R1000 per piece. In the next few years there will be an extremely high demand for supporters wear, however. What to do? Think about either producing or finding a supplier of quality supporter’s wear that can be sold to people unable to afford expensive merchandise. Do not pirate or copy the real thing, but there is nothing illegal about printing a golden springbok or protea on a green T-shirt, is there?

The fact of the matter is, the more you know, the more you are able to do. Become an expert not only on your own field, but all the other fields that may influence you. Be innovative and look for opportunities around you, after all, isn’t an entrepreneur someone who finds solutions to problems people face?

“The fact of the matter is, the

more you know, the more you are able to do. Become an expert not only on your own field, but all the other fields that may influence you.

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SPACE PREP ww

p ac e w . m e d o .s

/p r e p

Join MEDO’s historic Space Programme focused on Young Women in STEM that will see the launch of Africa’s first private satellite into orbit in 2016.

Space Prep: One-day electronics workshops that happen once a month in Cape Town.

Space Trek: One-week workshop bootcamp that will experiment with satellite payloads.

Space Prog: The final group of young women will design and programme the payload for the satellite ready to be launched in 2016. #MEDOSpace Got to www.medo.space/prep to learn more.

Big Pitch Big Possibilities

Five minutes and five slides are all our Supplier Development entrepreneurs have to sell their businesses to a room full of CEOs, executives, representatives and press. Big Pitch is not for the faint-hearted but may hold maximal potential. Meet our successful presenters: The 10 Supplier Development entrepreneurs, all in a range of sectors, pitched their businesses to potential buyers, procurement officials and supply chain managers, both in the private as well as the public sector on 20 August 2015. Over the years the caliber of participating entrepreneurs has increased significantly and those who took part in the Supplier Development bootcamp demonstrated high competency – enough so for all to qualify for further MEDO programmes such as the popular International Trade Programme taking place later this year.

The Supplier Development Bootcamp, which took take place in Cape Town, included innovative highlights designed to assist smaller businesses in growing and developing as well as gaining the maximum benefit from such an opportunity. These highlights include: -Leadership: personal styles and managing power distances -Building relationships, understanding cultural etiquette, cultural and geographical barriers, differences and similarities -Scaling a business to manage operations in order to deliver to large corporates -Operations strategy development and management -Governance required to deal with corporates and the public sector.

-Networking skills -Managing virtual relationships and teams -Presentation skills The participating and successful Entrepreneurs included: PolAmco (Pty) Ltd is owned by Pascal Nderitu and is involved in the renewable energy business focusing solar energy solutions offering portable solar lamps, domestic off-grid soar installations and solar-powered streetlights.

This was Pascal’s second Big Pitch and has since his previous Big Pitch in August last year harboured over R3 million in business from the event.

Luyanda Koba runs Sun1 Southgate and has been involved in the accommodation business for over 10 years. The business is capable of meeting Tsogo Sun’s vision effectively and believe training and development is one a key strategy to providing excellent service.

Established in 2011 by Mlungiseleli Tyatyaza (a qualified Professional Quantity Surveyor - PrQS, PMAQS).

Kini Quantity Surveyors provides professional cost consulting advice and cost management services in the 66

construction industry. Prior to establishing the firm, the principal was involved in numerous projects in the mining, infrastructure and transportation sectors. The company currently has two offices: Johannesburg, Gauteng and Mthatha, Eastern Cape SUN1 Vereeniging is run by Honey Ndevu and provides ideal budget business accommodation across 41 rooms. SUN1 Vereeniging is part of the 21 SUN1’s in South Africa, under the Tsogo Sun umbrella.

Humbelani Nengovhela is the managing director and sole owner of NHE. Formed in 2010, the company focuses on skills development. Having realised the need to revolutionise skills development across the continent, NHE has been granted accreditation by Public Service SETA. The company specialises in admin programs, short skills, soft skills and skills development plans. They are based in Johannesburg and Limpopo.

Founded in 2007 Father and daughter Charles Bestha and Kim Williams, Excell Consumables is a level 1 Black Women owned results focused company that provides its partners with a total solution to all their office stationery and consumables needs. The company’s aim is to form strategic partnerships with clients and to provide superior service levels. Excell services the SMME and Corporate enterprises. They are based in Cape Town.

Caitze Information Systems, is a growth stage SME that was registered in 2008. Based in Vereeniging and owned by Tatolo Masoeu, the business offers Desktop and LAN services to Schools and NGO’s. The programs involve setting up Computer Laboratories and equipping Administration Offices with adequate Computer Hardware and Internet access.

Dean Thompson turned his childhood fascination into a business when he started Inferno Films, specialising in corporate and marketing videos, broadcast television, music videos and animation. Having worked in the television industry, Dean identified a niche and now provides a total package to the client, just one of the unique value propositions of his company.

Mpendulo Mabuza is the general manager of Sun 1 Hotel Berea. Suppling budget accommodation, the hotel is ideal for small and big groups as well as individuals.

These entrepreneurs are the suppliers of the future.

Be sure to keep an eye out for our next magazine that wil profile these enterprising individuals.

FEATURE

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY MEDO NEWS

“The entrepreneur has five

minutes to present with five slides to show what his or her business is about.

Following that presentation is a networking function where the entrepreneurs may have opportunites to sell their business.

The training is therefore exceptionally important as the entrepreneurs are going to demonstrate their ability to do business immediately.

-Bjarke Gotfredsen, MEDO CEO

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MEDO Photo Diary:

Supplier Development Big Pitch Our successful Supplier Development entrepreneurs had a chance to present themselves and their businesses to a room full of potential clients. The nerves were almost as high as the stakes, but with detemination and focus, the treps outshone themselves.

Images: Top: Tatolo Masoeu from Caitze Information Systems giving a passionate presentation.

Middle: Judi Sandrock, MEDO CEO wishes the entrepreneurs good luck before they take the podium.

Bottom: Executives from Grant Thornton attended the Big Pitch as judges, scoring each entrepreneur on their presentation skills.

Images Page Right: Top: After the presentations there was a networking opportunity. Here Mlungiseleli Tyatyaza from Kini Quantity Surveyors is exchanging business cards.

Middle: Tatolo Masoeu from Caitze Information Systems talks to Isaac Makhari, Head of Project Management from BT South Africa.

Bottom Left: Before the presentations the entrepreneurs posed for a groupshot with MEDO CEOs Bjarke Gotfredsen and Judi Sandrock.

Bottom Right: Dean Thompson from Inferno Films doing some last minute networking with Wendy Turton, Managing Director from Elcarbo Cape.

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A Social Standing Janine Petersen always loved attending social events, until she realised she’d rather be the mastermind behind those events than actually attending them.

And that’s exactly how her company Jennie Bird Events sprang to life. A proud business owner and a proud mother of two this lady is more social than ever, having become a must-have asset for wine farms and restaurants in the Western Cape.

Janine has always known that her path in life was for new programmes, attending networking events going to go into a social industry having studied and making use of as many MEDO resources as public relations management after school. Having possible. I will definitely nurture this relationship as worked in PR for a couple of years at a multi-national I see MEDO as one of the biggest assets to my corporate, Janine became more and more interested business.” in business and eventually moved to the financial In ten years’ time Janine sees Jennie Bird service industry to get as much know-how possible Events transforming into a Jennie Bird Group, before taking her own leap of faith. hosting events, tours and becoming a wine In 2013 Janine slowly started to dip her toes manufacturing group. “I want to build a Jennie Bird into the events management industry by organising empire with a turnover of 10 million in ten years. The jazz evenings as well as empowerment events for big thing is that I want to be a well-known brand women. Soon she had wineries knocking on her not just for being successful, but also for being a door for food and wine pairings and wine tastings as business that gives back to the community. Apart way of alternative marketing from the events, I want to work and Janine and Jennie Bird in the community by What sets us apart from hands-on has only moved from strength helping single mothers with skills any other events company development programmes.” to strength from there.

“Being an entrepreneur Currently Jennie Bird is our top class service. We means that you turn your Events is a full events guarantee 100% customer management service passion into your business.

Entrepreneurs are trendspecialising in experimental satisfaction. The most setters, people that are not satisfying part of my job is marketing doing wine and only able to find gaps in the food pairings for wineries and seeing the end results where restaurants. “What sets us apart market but also possess the skill to fill it. They innovate with the client is happy, which in from any other events company the one hand and build the our top class service. We turn means that I am happy isguarantee economy with the other. We 100% costomer not only have an economical satisfaction. The most satisfying responsibility in this regard, but also a social part of my job is seeing the end results where the responsibility to help communities grow to insure client is happy, which in turn means that I am happy. future entrepreneurs.” Janine heard about MEDO My business is most definitely my passion, I love after attending an event where she met MEDO every aspect of it and I believe that passion is the CEO Judi Sandrock who urged her to apply via our driving force behind Jennie Bird.” online application form. She recently completed Jennie Bird Events is a business that holds the the Foundation Business Skills Programme and is potential to present a real ‘wow’ factor. Partnered hoping to join more, “I value my relationship with with Janine’s passion and social networking skills, MEDO and can see it going very far by enrolling this bird is most definitely ready to spread its wings.

“

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A Space Review Imaan Shaik, matric learner from the South Peninsula High School in Cape Town recently attended our Space Prep workshop from our Young Women in STEM programme. We caught up with the young lady to find out her thoughts on STEM, MEDO and what she plans for her future.

Did you enjoy the Space Prep workshop? What did you enjoy about it?

I enjoyed the part where we built the jiggybot because I am more of a practical person so bringing the drawings that are in my physics book to life was really cool.

What did you learn on the day?

I learnt that there are very few women who choose a career in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field.

What do you want to study after school? Why? Analytical chemistry/ forensic science because I enjoy chemistry. Watching all those CSI programmes on television got me really interested in this field. Also, there is a shortage of forensic scientist in South Africa.

Did the workshop open up ideas of other avenues to study?

Yes, because I have never thought that I would see myself building a little robot and now that I have, it actually opened my eyes to engineering.

“

I would encourage young women to choose a STEM related career because it shows that women are just as good as men.

Do you want to join the next workshop, Space Trek?

Yes, I would love to join the week long bootcamp that will experiment with satellite payload designs.

Does the idea of designing the payload for the satellite excite you?

Yes, because it makes me feel like I am helping the world open up their eyes to something new and interesting and I am someone who enjoys helping others.

Why do you think young women are less inclined to follow a STEM related degree and career?

Maybe it is because most women feel that that is a man’s field of work but I have to say I beg to differ as it is something that I want to follow.

Do you think this mindset needs to change?

Yes, otherwise women will eventually give up and they will not live up to their full potential in very interesting industries.

What is your final message to other young women like yourself about STEM, MEDO and Space Prep?

I would encourage young women to choose a STEM related career because it shows that women are just as good as men as long as they set their minds to it.

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Green

Fingers

Ever since she was a child, Sekiwe Dudeni felt a spiritual pull towards nature, conservation and the outdoors. It is thus no surprise that she ventured into the business of all things green with Asekiwe Holdings Pty Ltd. What makes Sekiwe’s venture so special is that she isn’t merely passionate about her industry, she has a sincere respect and love for it.

“I was born and bred in the Eastern Cape, and I grew up taking walks in the great outdoors, enjoying sunshine and observing the glorious diversity of plants and animals. My love for what God created in the form of nature has made me an environmentalist, as I feel the necessity to protect this precious earth.” To pursue this love, Sekiwe studied Horticulture at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, whereafter she has been involved in an array of landscaping, maintenance and horticultural projects. Sekiwe decided to venture into entrepreneurship as she felt the risk of pursuing her environmentalist endeavours was worth it. “My business is absolutely my passion, I have always loved nature and I have always had a burning desire to help people and to make a difference in the country. With Asekiwe Holdings Pty Ltd, I can do both.”

“When I’m in the forest, especially if it’s an older growth near the water, I feel a natural kind of ‘high’. The feeling is very spiritual as I get overwhelmed by a need to preserve the enviroment for future generations to enjoy. Many years ago I planted trees that have now grown 30 to 40 feet high and I can see the hawks and owls that come to feed and live around them. This gives me a sense of well-being.” Asekiwe Holdings Pty Ltd offers landscaping consultation and design, implementation 74

of planting plans, advice on sustainable options, horticultural maintenance, pest control and turf management.

If Sekiwe were to describe a dream project, it would be to work on a 5-year project that would involve people from disadvantaged communities to build up their horticultural skills to enter the landscaping sector, “I want to influence South Africa positively by playing a part in development, society, addressing consumer needs and creating job opportunities.”

“trees Many years ago I planted that have now grown

30 to 40 feet high and I can see the hawks and owls that come to feed and live around them. This gives me a sense of well-being.

It is also thus no surprise that Sekiwe’s love for nature is ingrained in her definition of entrepreneurship, with the theme of ‘growing’ ever consistent.

“To me, entrepreneurship is creating something, nurturing and leading it. It is a labor of love, guts and hard work.

There is more to it than meets the eye, and it will have you grow more than you

could ever imagine!”

After a friend recommended MEDO to her, Sekiwe showed up for the interview and her ‘growing’ still continues even long after the Foundation Business Skills Programme. “I have learnt practical information on a wide variety of business topics that are designed to educate entrepreneurs about new and innovative management procedures.

The programme not only taught basic business skills but also more advanced and specific management business management skills. I have learnt to do more with less, to show quantifiable results, to innovate and drive new revenue streams and to enrich customer interactions. The trust and honesty I have experienced with MEDO makes our relationship exceptionally strong and I hope to take part in more programmes.”

The incredible thing about Sekiwe is that her love for nature doesn’t make her a tree-hugging hippie, it allows her to see the bigger picture. “Innovation in diversity is key to growth. Innovation and the ability to create new knowledge constitutes an important competitive edge for organisations, and diversity offers new and interesting perspectives for innovation that will increase the ability to create new knowledge.” With that mindset Sekiwe will continue to grow, to grow and flourish like those trees she planted all those years ago.

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SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT SDP ENTREPRENEURS

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MEDO Club:

On the clock for our entrepreneurs Appointing a whole staff to take care of legal, financial, HR and marketing matters is a costly burden often too big to bear for developing businesses.

The problem is, however that no matter how small a business may be, someone needs to take care of these issues regardless of financial abilities.

Expecting one person to be an expert in each field neccesary to effictively run a business, whilst keeping the businesse afloat is also a far stretch from realistic capacities.

Entrepreneurs starting out need help. Development issues aside, being an entrepreneur can be a very lonely path, and someone needs to give them operational help each of them so desperately require. With MEDO Club, subscribers get access to business, accounting, leads and purchasing power advice. The whole service becomes your own personal personal assistant with the mere dial of a telephone, without the disadvantage of having to rent a space or pay monthly salaries. The system works on a user-friendly basis of a call centre where entrepreneurs log requests via a call agent who will then further the query for ultimate assistance within 24 hours or less. There is also an easy to use website, medo.club that offers assistance such as tailor-made legal documents like employment contracts or loan agreements, access to how-to guides on finance, tax, IT, legal matters and promotion of products via voucher systems to large databases. Users are also awarded with a list of discounts on travel, office equipment and various restaurants to ensure businesses can be run as cost-friendly as possible.

MEDO CLUB YOUR PERSONAL BUSINESS ADVISOR: Advisor specialists are here to help with -legal advice -financial and tax advice -general business advice -insurance advise

MEDO CLUB, BRINGING THE BUSINESS TO YOU: -Tenders: As a member of MEDO Club you will get access to a free e-mail service that will notify you as soon as new tenders relevant to your line of business, are posted.

-Market place: Access our large database of over 2 million customers to run promotions and sales campaigns.

-Lead generation: Once registered online, the system automatically matches your profile with business requests received, creating new leads and prospects.

MEDO Club then furthermore offers a large range of opportunities such as discounts of purchases, IT troubleshooting, training and skills development and an oncall risk manager. With MEDO Club entrepreneurs are given the opportunity to focus on running their business without sweating over the admin side of things or spending thousands on advisors who require pay by the hour. Starting a business is terrifying, MEDO Club is only trying to make things a bit less stressful than it needs to be.

MEDO CLUB YOUR ON-CALL ACCOUNTANT: SMeasy is a simple, convenient online system focussing on finance, business and accounting management.

SMeasy is specifically designed for entrepreneurs with little or no accounting experience with the goal of simplifying matters that allow entrepreneurs to worry about their business without the hassle of accounting.

Want in on the deal? All MEDO entrepreneurs automatically added to our shared services provider MEDO Club and from there it’s as easy as 1,2,3: - Call 010 500 5555 or visit www.medo.club - An agent will log your request.

- An agent will assist you immediately or get back to you within 24 hours depending on complexity of your request.

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Why HR?

“

Human relations is an interdisciplinary field because the study of human behavior in organizational settings draws on the fields of communications, management, psychology, and sociology. It is an important field of study because all workers engage in human relations activities.

Organizations are developing an increasing orientation toward service to clients as relationships are becoming more important than physical products.

The people factor.

At MEDO we deal with entrepreneurial ventures, educational programmes, satellite incentives, events coordination and networking parties. And that’s just to mention our elevator pitch. In short, we work on development, development in every shape or form we can think of to better South Africa. Innovation through diversity. Carla de Klerk went into the belly of the beast as to how MEDO develops itself by talking to MEDO Human Relations manager, Sthembile Ngwabi. part of my job. Firstly, I have to adhere to the What is HR? HR ethics and codes of practices stipulated by “The concept of human relations basically the SA Board of People Practices. Secondly, refers to the interpersonal relationships or part of the role of any HR professional is to behaviours in an organisation. This includes the interaction between individuals, employees, implement ethics into the work environment and make it part of the company culture. management and the interaction between Ethics and codes of practices are extremely different departments within a company. important to pay particular attention to as it Human Relations involve ensuring that eliminates a huge number of problems in the employees fit together in the work environment workplace. Not only will it create a healthy and are able to work harmoniously. It also work environment, covers aspects of but create a ripple motivation, interpersonal People are an integral part of effect leading to job skills, job satisfaction and corporate cultures. business and therefore human satisfaction in retaining employees.

People are an important relations need to be managed talented Retaining high caliber resource in any business, in a way that ensures that staff is important therefore managing for the success of employees are motivated to human relations is a the company as critical aspect as it perform at their optimum. they produce high impacts a business quality work and reduces the costs of hiring directly. It is also important to note that this additional staff. Values that companies need to applies to all companies, regardless of the prioritise in order to engage this ripple effect, varying sizes, whether there are five or 500 are integrity, responsibility and competence. employees, the dynamics are more or less the Companies should incorporate these values same and should be prioritised and applied. as a core part of their culture, ensuring they become prioritised in day-to-day activities.

How about business interaction, is there a trick to it?

Employees are there to work, should their “The most imperative principle to have in happiness be accounted for? the business context or any other context People are an integral part of business is respect. If people respect each other and therefore human relations need to irrespective of position, gender or religious be managed in a way that ensures that background, they will be able to work in employees are motivated to perform at synergy thus preventing or reducing conflict their optimum. Companies who create in the workplace. Workplace conflict has a negative impact on efficiency, employee morale and promote a healthy work environment, based on core values of respect, integrity and overall job satisfaction, which ultimately and responsibility reap the awards. After all, affects the general productivity of a company. business is not just about making money in the end of the day, it’s about developing Do ethics also fall into the HR domain? people which in turn develops the economy.

“Ethics and codes of practice are an immense

“

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news

MEDO EnjOys MOrE Of thE spOtlight.

MEDO has done it again…over the past two months MEDO has received fantastic coverage with over 80 published pieces across all media platforms.

Enjoy MEDO in the spotlight.

INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY

MEDO Advertising Equivalent (AVE) Report: June 2015 Publication www.b2bnews.co.za www.alexnews.co.za www.sandtonchronicle.co.za www.fourwaysreview.co.za www.midrandreporter.co.za www.rosebankkillarneygazette.co.za www.citybuzz.co.za www.northeasterntribune.co.za www.opportunityonline.co.za Safm www.gt.co.za www.grocotts.co.za Voice of the Cape 91.3 FM www.autoforum.co.za www.m.news24.com www.news24.com www.mybroadband.co.za www.techcentral.co.za www.sabc.co.za www.autoforum.co.za www.algoafm.co.za Radio 702 Cape Talk Enca - Maggs on Media www.allafrica.com SABC NEWS - Morning Live Enca News www.dailymaverick.co.za www.iol.co.za www.ofm.co.za www.iol.co.za Enca News Enca News SABC NEWS www.women24.com www.southafrica.info SABC NEWS www.htxt.co.za www.sabreakingnews.co.za www.sarie.com Smile FM www.facebook.com Southern Mail The Mercury Cape Argus Cape Times Ubuntu Radio FM Constantiaberg Bulletin Smile FM www.memeburn.com www.news100.co.za www.balancingact-africa.com Smile FM www.msn.com www.nunnovation.com www.news24.com Expresso Breakfast Show 702 - Bruce Whitfield’s show Cape Talk Mail & Guardian SABC News www.ventures-africa.com www.architectafrica.com Future Trucking and Logistics Architect South Africa Fleetwatch Quarterly Magazine www.africanglobe.net www.pulse.ng www.1africa.tv UNCOVA www.buzzsouthafrica.com RSG

Date 6/1/15 6/1/15 6/1/15 6/1/15 6/1/15 6/1/15 6/1/15 6/1/15 6/9/15 6/10/15 6/10/15 6/15/15 6/15/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/16/15 6/15/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/17/15 6/18/15 6/18/15 6/19/15 6/19/15 6/19/15 6/19/15 6/20/15 6/22/15 6/22/15 6/23/15 6/23/15 6/25/15 7/25/15 6/26/15 6/29/15 6/30/15 6/30/15 7/1/15 7/1/15 7/1/15 7/2/15 7/2/15 7/6/15 7/6/15 7/7/15 7/7/15

Advertising Cost Content Change the tone when it comes to BEE and supplier development R10 000,00 Big news for small business R17 339,40 Big news for small business R29 262,60 Big news for small business R24 078,60 Big news for small business R18 786,60 Big news for small business R19 132,20 Big news for small business R15 425,10 Big news for small business R18 308,70 SMME ROADSHOW: Biggest SMME thinktank launched R650,00 In-studio interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R34 800,00 BEE in the know - Edition 4 2015 R1 109,00 Lift off for girls in science R2 376,00 Telephonic Interview with Judi Sandrock, CO-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R20 860,00 NEWS24 WIRE NEWS DIARY, TUESDAY, 16 JUNE R650,00 Teens girls to create Africa's first private satellite R32 609,00 Teen girls to create Africa's first private satellite R32 609,00 South Africa to launch continent's first private satellite R33 684,00 Teen girls to create Africa's first private satellite R19 588,00 Teen girls to create Africa's first private satellite R650,00 Teen girls to create Africa's first private satellite R650,00 Teen girls to create Africa's first private satellite R5 682,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R125 160,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R60 660,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R120 000,00 South Africa: Sisters Are Building Robots for Themselves R29 746,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R110 000,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R90 000,00 Sisters are building robots for themselves R19 815,00 Are you keen to build a satellite?

R31 383,00 Teen girls to create Africa's first private satellite R5 429,00 Girls get hands dirty with robotics R31 383,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R40 000,00 Repeat - Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R40 000,00 Repeat - Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R110 000,00 Teen girls to create Africa's first private satellite R31 900,00 From jiggy bots to satellites for South African girls R18 245,00 Repeat - Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R110 000,00 CAPE SCHOOL GIRLS TO LAUNCH PRIVATE SATELITE IN 2016 R8 126,00 Cape Town teen girls to create private satellites R9 995,00 Suid-Afrika vier Jeugdag R18 100,00 Pre-recorded telephonic interview with Judi Sandrock R12 000,00 SA Breaking News - Cape Town teen girls to create private satellites R650,00 Encouraging science careers R12 952,80 Cape schoolgirls to build satellite R16 182,00 Space becomes frontier for girls R28 053,00 Are you keen to build a satellite?

R52 473,76 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R56 000,00 Youth in science R16 662,60 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R12 000,00 MEDO launches a programme to empower young women in STEM R30 567,00 MEDO launches a programme to empower young women in STEM R1 332,00 MEDO launches a programme to empower young women in STEM R4 987,00 Repeat - Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R12 000,00 Sisters are building robots for themselves R42 250,00 Teenage Girls to launch Africa's First Private Satellite R603,00 Girls can reach for the stars, too R33 083,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R70 000,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R50 064,00 Interview with Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO R19 408,00 Big partners for small business R90 324,52 Judi Sandrock, Co-Founder and Joint CEO of MEDO interviewed with learners R90 324,52 Three South African teenage girls create Africa's first private satellite R17 691,00 Three South African teenage girls create Africa's first private satellite R770,00 New FSR8000 AMT for MEDO R13 620,39 Three South African teenage girls create Africa’s first private satellite R750,00 ISUZU TRUCKS: TREPPIE TRUCK ENABLES START-UP SUCCESS R14 651,93 Three South African teenage girls create Africa's first private satellite R650,00 Girl Power: Teenage South African girls build Africa's first private satellite R650,00 African Girls Building Africa's First Private Satellite R650,00 Girl Power: Teenage South African girls build Africa's first private satellite R650,00 Great News! SA Teenage School Girls To Launch Africa's First Private Satellite R2 627,00 Interview with Carla De Klerk, Editor in Chief R60 600,00

Totals:

Compiled by The Lime Envelope: www.thelimeenvelope.co.za

PR Value to Client R40 000,00 R69 357,60 R117 050,40 R96 314,40 R75 146,40 R76 528,80 R61 700,40 R73 234,80 R2 600,00 R139 200,00 R4 436,00 R9 504,00 R83 440,00 R2 600,00 R130 436,00 R130 436,00 R134 736,00 R78 352,00 R2 600,00 R2 600,00 R22 728,00 R500 640,00 R242 640,00 R480 000,00 R118 984,00 R440 000,00 R360 000,00 R79 260,00 R125 532,00 R21 716,00 R125 532,00 R160 000,00 R160 000,00 R440 000,00 R127 600,00 R72 980,00 R440 000,00 R32 504,00 R39 980,00 R72 400,00 R48 000,00 R2 600,00 R51 811,20 R64 728,00 R112 212,00 R209 895,04 R224 000,00 R66 650,40 R48 000,00 R122 268,00 R5 328,00 R19 948,00 R48 000,00 R169 000,00 R2 412,00 R132 332,00 R280 000,00 R200 256,00 R77 632,00 R361 298,08 R361 298,08 R70 764,00 R3 080,00 R54 481,56 R3 000,00 R58 607,72 R2 600,00 R2 600,00 R2 600,00 R2 600,00 R10 508,00 R242 400,00

R2 206 266,72 R8 825 066,88

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INNOVATION IN DIVERSITY MEDO NEWS

Pen it in!

MEDO Calendar:

See some of the highlights of MEDO’s 2015 calendar. Be sure to visit medo.co.za for more exciting news.

October Space Trek

-Cape Town & surrounds Space Trek, a week-long bootcamp that will see young women taking to the wilderness for phase two of the MEDO Satellite Space Programme.

Our young participants will start designing and testing the payload for the satellite by launching high-altitude weather balloons 30km up in the air as means of experimentation and simulation.

Third Thursdays Entrepreneur Networking and discussion platform -Cape Town

Every third Thursday of the month we host a live-broadcasted discussion with Councillor Garreth Bloor and various inspirational guests. Be sure to tune in every third Thursday at 6PM sharp via medo.co.za/live to join the discussion.

82

Final Fridays Entrepreneur Networking and discussion platform -Joburg

Every last Friday of the month, MEDO hosts a networking event with our entrepreneurs, business partners and distinguished guests to create a comfortable and open space for valuable networking between big and small businesses. Be sure to visit medo.co.za to stay up to date.

December Space Prog -Cape Town

For the final leg of our Satellite Space Programme, we will come together over the school holidays with the young women who are dedicated to build the final payload for the satellite to be ready for launch in 2016. During this time they will actively engage with the technical aspects of the satellite and will be responsible for sending the satellite, ready to be launched, over to the Mojave Desert in the USA.

November

Supplier Development Programme -Joburg & Cape Town

Over a week, MEDO will host an intensive week-long bootcamp with entrepreneurs who are looking to- and have the potential to scale their business to the level of supplying to big business.

After an extensive interview process, the programme will host enterprising businesses from across the country, delving into a bootcamp that comprises of a series of workshops. The programme will culminate in a “Big Pitch” where the entrepreneurs will pitch to renowned business -men and women from big businesses. Afterwards, they will be afforded the opportunity to meet potential clients and investors. Be sure to stay up to date at medo.co.za for the progress of this and other programmes.

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